Thursday, July 29, 2010
‘Harm minimization’
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is beginning to sound more and more like the government technocrats he’s always trying to pry leaks from. …
Though I’m obviously worried about endangering informants who are helping our side in what used to be called a ‘good war,’ I’m not too worked up about the leaks in general. The government already has too many secrets. The leaks really don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. But what does annoy me are comparisons to the Pentagon Papers. It always comes back to Vietnam. … It’s also about self-glorification. They want this to be a big deal. But it simply isn’t. I heard journalists from the NYT and Guardian admitting as much on PBS the other day.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is beginning to sound more and more like the government technocrats he’s always trying to pry leaks from. …
Though I’m obviously worried about endangering informants who are helping our side in what used to be called a ‘good war,’ I’m not too worked up about the leaks in general. The government already has too many secrets. The leaks really don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. But what does annoy me are comparisons to the Pentagon Papers. It always comes back to Vietnam. … It’s also about self-glorification. They want this to be a big deal. But it simply isn’t. I heard journalists from the NYT and Guardian admitting as much on PBS the other day.
