McLaughlin Assignment 12 DUE 12/8
Based on our discussions in class and the resources listed, respond to the following questions in no less than 150 words:
On November 28th 2010, the website WikiLeaks began publishing secret diplomatic cables (messages) obtained from a source within the U.S. Army. Some feel that the information contained within these secret messages has threatened the safety of US Citizens and compromised out country’s ability to conduct diplomacy with other nations. Others feel that this incident is little more than an embarrassment for the US and instead should serve as a call to reexamine what the US classifies as “secret” and investigate how a Private in the US Army had access to all these documents. Nevertheless, the question remains what is to be done about WikiLeak’s founder and operator, Julian Assange. Has he committed a crime? If so, what is it and what will the US do about it? Read the following article, which details the situation (be aware-there are multiple pages):
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2034276,00.html
Based on the article, was the U.S. damaged by the data release? How? Also, in your opinion, has Assange committed a crime that the U.S. should apprehend and prosecute him for? If so, what crime has he committed and is he afforded any protection under “Freedom of the Press”? If not, how would you defend his release of hundreds of thousands of secret government documents?
Julian Assange really hasnt commited a crime because hes not the one who stold the information form the US Army. If they even shut down the website it dosent matter because its all over the internet now and everybody can see it from diffrent sites. The damage to the US was that now Korea & Iran know what we had planned since its all over the internet and thats really bad for us because now they have the upper hand. I really cant think of a way that he commited the crime because he can post what ever he wants on the website because thats freedon of speech and hes not the one who stold the information. On the other hand Manning was a Private in the US military and hes going to do a lot of time because he stole from the US army. I dont think they can do anything to Assange and since he does not live in the US they really cant do anything to him. Is like he had everything planned out already.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Caraballo Period 5
Based on the article, the U.S. was damaged by the data release, our relationship with other nations is ruined in a way, certain nations that we had worked with or were trying to negotiate certain things with now won’t have that trust in us and its making the U.S. look extremely untrustworthy and unprofessional .
ReplyDeleteIn my personal opinion Assange has really not done anything wrong . I wouldn’t call what he did a crime, what the intelligence officer did was a crime, but Assange was someone who got some information and figured why not allow everyone to see what is happening after all if nothing bad is happening why hide it.
I think that if the U.S. were to prosecute Assange he is protection under “Freedom of the Press”? because he just allowing people to see what is happening not like it’s a bad thing. He was simply expressing what he saw on the hundreds of thousands of secret government documents, if they were so secretive the intelligence officer would of not been able to have access to then so this shows how much the government really protects its files and data that they have. This isn't the issue i think we all should be worrying about the documents' are out already so now we need to worry about how to prevent things like this from happening again and not only that but to really watch what our government is keeping track of why did we have these secret documents of our leaders trash talking other leaders and back door deals etc, thats what we all should be worrying about not if this guy should go to jail because he opened the eyes of millions of Americans.
natalie slavova pd5
I think the U.S. was damaged by these documents but more embarrassing if anything. To have the trust of so many Americans and then a have numerous amounts of documents printed that go against everything you stated is embarrassing. I do not think Assange is at fault because he has every right to post what he feels on his website, as long as he wasn't the one who retreated these documents i don't see why he would be convicted in anyway. He is protected under the first amendment which gives him freedom of speech which was what he was acting upon.
ReplyDeleteBased on the article, the U.s is going to come across obstacles that they will have to battle. A lot was released about secret information that should have not been in the eyes of the public. We have said things about other countries which is embarassing for them to see. However, they do it as well. Also the battle with North Korea and South Korea will be a big issue and China as well because we have to discuss with China before we do anything and we have to watch what we say because our lives and economy intertwine with China. I believe that Assange has committed a crime even though due to the Bill of rights he didn't "commit" an actual crime because he didn't actually give our enemies the information he just posted it on his site. However, he put all of our lives in danger and a war between countries could occur now as well. He deserves to go to jail to life because he has caused our country to be in danger of anything happening to us.
ReplyDelete-Alexa Kane (my dads name is on the top because im on his computer sorry)
-Period 3
Desirae La Furno
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
~ The US was damaged by this data released becasue it released "Secret" info. That was no supposed to be released to the public. I feel tha Assange has not commiteed a crime. I feel that our government keep to many secrets from us. I feel that the government doesnt trust us enough with this info. When I feel that as US citzens it is our right to know. I do not think he should be proscuted for this it is in his 1 st admendment right that he has the freedom of speech. I would back Assange up on this becasue I personally feel that he is not a bad person I think that he just want's the world to know the truth about our government.
i think that this whole situation with the wiki leaks it a waste of breath. If this event has happened a few times before you should learn to watch what you say. nothing is "off the books" especial if you are at a meeting that is being documented you definitely should watch what you say. regardless your thoughts should stay in your head because it makes you look bad out our country. you guys are the US officals , you speak for all of us.
ReplyDeleteJulian Assange is not a criminal he just exposed something that didnt really need to be showed but he believed that everyone has a right to know and freedom of everything is the FIRST amendment, which the US firmly believes .
Jamie torney (jam jam )
According to the article the United States government claims that this caused "serious damage to national security." Many of our governments secrets are being released for example the Korean government found out that China may be turning on them and that is forcing them to create a plan of attack. The government in Iran found out that there "partners" were secretly begging the United States to attack them. By leaking these documents problems are being created all around the world and this could turn out to be disastrous. The director of WikiLeaks, Assange did commit a crime but being that he is a United States citizen I do not think the United States should punish him. He is not a citizen of our country therefore he has different rights then we do. The person I think that should be prosecuted for the release of these documents is Private Manning. He is a citizen of our country and stole those documents from the government, he should be punished for betraying our government and releasing these secret documents.
ReplyDelete-Chrysanthe Thomatos Period 3
The United States was damaged by the data that was released on wikileaks. Because of the documents that were leaked out many other countries are now questioning where they stand with the United States. For example, according to time.com, “In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discovered through the leak that while his Arab neighbors were publicly making nice, privately they were pleading with the U.S. to launch an attack against Tehran's nuclear program.” Though the leak of these documents has caused quite uproar, I don’t not believe that Assange has committed a real crime that the United States should apprehend and prosecute him for. He could defend the release of hundred of thousand of secret government documents with support of the freedom of the press and freedom of speech. His freedom of press was used here in order to inform citizens of things that he felt were of much importance. Though he used this power in an unconventional way, I don’t see any rules that were truly broken.
ReplyDelete~Sarah Bianchi period 3
The U.S is damaged through national security and their credibility. The U.S has lost a lot of its trustworthiness, and it will definitely be harder for them to work with any other countries to solve shared problems they may be having against another country. According to the article though, other countries are damaged too now, because some of their plans were released through the leaks and now so many people know about them. Korea found out that its protector China might be planning to turn on them and wants to contemplate the unification of the peninsula. Iran also found out that their Arab neighbors are actually pleading to attack the nuclear program. So, not only is the U.S in a sticky situation, but other countries could potentially be in danger. Many people can be harmed in the process of what may soon happen, and if any attacks will soon occur or not. It is hard to say if Assange committed a crime or not, because I don't think it is technically espionage, when he didn't obtain or spy to get the documents, but yet he just published them. However, I could pose the thought that he could be charged for unauthorized possession of these documents, because he did have them. Since there are so many more top secret files, and government secrets from all over the world, there are a lot more government officials being able to have the documents and look them over. Who's to say that one of them didn't give the documents to Private Manning. It gets too hard to keep track of who could be floating the documents around the world, and with computers being so popular, anything that gets posted can be found in so many other places. Assange is free to publish any kind of press, but in this situation, he doesn’t own the top secrets that were supposed to be kept secret. In the article, Obama even agreed with Assange that there should be fewer secrets, but with such sensitive plans, I don’t think anyone in the world should be looking at what could be happening, because it will just scare more people, and they will hate the government even more. These documents have to be handled by not many people, because there are people who want to sabotage the chance they can get to. I don’t think it is wrong that Assange thinks he did everyone a favor by letting people know what countries are doing, but it is too much of a shock and a violation to go against.
ReplyDeleteAnastasia Papis pd 5
According to the article, the U.S. was in fact somewhat damaged by the data release. But more of the people of the U.S., then the actual U.S. ‘itself’. To the United States, the release of these cable messages was more of an embarrassment of themselves. I believe that Assange HAS committed a crime, and that the U.S. should prosecute him for it. Whatever Manning is being charged for, Assange should be charged for the same thing, as it the website WikiLeaks is his website, and he could have easily taken the cables off as soon as they were put on and reviewed. By accepting the cables into his website, and letting them become posted, he is just as bad as Manning, doing just as much damage. I don’t believe Freedom of the Press should be used as a way out in his case, as this was much big of a deal, so big of a deal that it could possibly start another war, WWIII?
ReplyDelete-Chelsea R. PD3
According to the article, the U.S. was in fact somewhat damaged by the data release. But more of the people of the U.S., then the actual U.S. ‘itself’. To the United States, the release of these cable messages was more of an embarrassment of themselves. I believe that Assange HAS committed a crime, and that the U.S. should prosecute him for it. Whatever Manning is being charged for, Assange should be charged for the same thing, as it the website WikiLeaks is his website, and he could have easily taken the cables off as soon as they were put on and reviewed. By accepting the cables into his website, and letting them become posted, he is just as bad as Manning, doing just as much damage. I don’t believe Freedom of the Press should be used as a way out in his case, as this was much big of a deal, so big of a deal that it could possibly start another war, WWIII?
ReplyDelete-Chelsea R. PD3
Based on the article, yes the U.S. was damaged by the data realsed because like it said in the article there were “sercret files”; things that Americans or anyone else from any other country weren’t suppose to know. I.E. “In Korea, the nuclear-armed regime of Kim Jong Il learned that its longtime protector, China, may be turning on it and is willing to contemplate unification of the peninsula under the leadership of the South Korean government in Seoul. In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discovered through the leak that while his Arab neighbors were publicly making nice, privately they were pleading with the U.S. to launch an attack against Tehran's nuclear program.” Just from this information it can cause many wars to occur and an even bigger damage for America. In my opinion Julian Assange has not committed a crime. The government isn’t supposed to hide things from its country. Maybe I can say the only crime is that he ‘hacked’ the government info, which is illegal, but he should not be prosecuted for the information that he has revealed, they country should know, and if America is that unconfident with the way they are running things and they know that they are running things the wrong way then maybe its time to change. American and our world in general has to become more democratic. FREEDOM of the PRESS means anything can be said to the press, as I stated above the only thing he should get prosecuted for is hacking other than that information revealed clearly is under freedom of the press and it should all be left their because its F R E E D O M. I would defend him by turning the tables around on the government and make a bigger issue why the government is hiding things and can’t be a true government, what are we paying taxes for? Why are we following the law mean while they can’t? What happened to everyone being equal? They contradict the amendments and laws.
ReplyDeleteGeorgina
Period: 3
The United States was not significantly damaged by the release of said documents on WikiLeaks. If anything, it is more of an embarrassment to the country than a threat to national security, or any threat for that matter. However, what this release does clearly show, is that there needs to be a change in the way the United States government handles confidential information. In my opinion, I don’t think Assange committed a crime that the United States can apprehend and prosecute him for. If anything, Manning is the only one who committed the crime. Assange is simply exercising his ‘freedom of the press’ right. Manning is the one who, in spite of knowing the documents would be released, handed the classified information to Assange. In addition, even if the United States apprehends Assange, WikiLeaks will most likely continue to release any classified information it possesses. Nothing will really change. Instead on focusing on punishing those responsible for the leaks, the government needs to focus on restructuring the way it handles secret information. At this point no amount of punishment on those responsible will change the fact that the information was made public. If they focus on changing their current procedures, they can avoid another leak like this in the future. Real change will be evident, otherwise the leaks will continue for WikiLeaks will probably carry on its mission even if Assange is charged with a crime.
ReplyDeleteMariela Ortiz (period 3)
Based on the article by Time magazine, the U.S. isn’t in danger from the Wiki-leaks scandal. The article states that the government is calling things a secret when they clearly are not. The information on Wiki-leaks wasn’t surprising either. The U.S. is just embarrassing themselves but no further real damage is going to happen. Even though Wiki-leaks is a form of press, I think that Julian Assange has committed a crime. Yes the government should do a better job securing the documents but it’s still his fault for putting them out there. He thinks he’s doing us a favor, but in my mind he’s putting us in more danger. What if the person looking at Wiki-leaks wants to attack America? They now have reasons to. This is very unfair and instead of protecting America, he is doing the opposite. He has put out confidential conversations between congress and he has but legal documents up there that we the people aren’t meant to see. I don’t think that he should be afforded any protection of freedom of the press at all because what he did is pretty serious.
ReplyDeletePersonally, from what I read on the article; yes the US was definitely damaged by the data release because it shows how it easy and unorganized we are when it comes to our personal information. The fact that this could of been prevented is hard for me and the American public to put your finger around. Assange is a conspiriter, because he could be as guilty as Bradley Manning, but there is no crime that they can put him up for, it is a simple as that; they can't make one up. Personally, I believe the Feds can prosecute him because he isn't exactly an American citizen and isn't protected by the Constitution...
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that Assange committed any crime that the US should prosecute him for, he didn’t any intention to embarrass the USA or make certain officials look bad – he simply published the information. Which he’s been doing for years so why now punish him for publishing this information? My belief is that if they’re really upset that this information is published - at all – then they’re hiding something and if there’s nothing to hide from the American public, then there shouldn’t be any more issues that come with the documents. I think their trying to charge him with something is an attempt to get revenge on the fact that this was seen before (the documents) and it was available to the world to see without considering the feelings of those involved in the documents.
ReplyDeleteLivianette Cabrera
period 3
The U.S. was definitely damaged by the base. As stated in the article, “It contained 11,000 documents marked secret; the release of any one of them, by the U.S. government's definition, would cause "serious damage to national security." There were a great deal of opinions that were leaked that do mater to a degree but what is really going to damage the U.S. is the secret documents. The government has marked them secret for a reason. When countries even U.S. citizens find out the details of these classified documents so much could go wrong. People can lose faith in their country if they don’t agree with what’s going on behind closed doors, they can start to doubt the very place they leave in and f they don’t believe in the U.S., then who will? Countries can stop cooperating if one thing is said in front of their face and another behind their backs. For example , “In Korea, the nuclear-armed regime of Kim Jong Il learned that its longtime protector, China, may be turning on it and is willing to contemplate unification of the peninsula under the leadership of the South Korean government in Seoul.” Like in high school when a girl finds out one of her friends is talking about her behind her back and she teams up with some other girls to bully her so called “friend”. Accept the consequences are higher especially with nuclear weapons being developed everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI technically do not believe Assange committed a crime and the U.S. cannot prosecute him. Even though the consequences of his actions are detrimental he did not break any laws. Assange released those documents because he is an activist of morals, fairness, and openness within the government and governmental activity. He didn’t release the documents for sabotage, revenge, espionage, bribery, etc. He did it for his beliefs in the citizens knowing what’s really going on within their governments. He shared, published; much like a newspaper does, articles that were presented to him. He only exposed the truth and in that broke no constitutional law. I suppose if you want to find loopholes and rules within rules you can find something to convict him on but in all actuality he is as innocent as an angry blogger who rights with facts and evidence about the wrong of this country hoping to reach the citizens making them think twice about how exactly the place that started out with them calling the shots has turned into a place where secrets are in abundance.
Melissa Iachetta
Period 3
I do think that the U.S was damaged by the data release, because the enemies of America can use that information to know how the America works and what America think about other countries. It might affect America’s benefits. But, I don’t think the U.S. should apprehend Julian Assange, because he’s not the one who broke 18 U.S. Code Section--criminalizes unauthorized computer downloads. He got that information and he decided to publish the information. I think the U.S. should punish the person who stolen the secret documents.
ReplyDeletePd 5
With the leaking of sensitive information on the website Wikileaks, the US has undoubtedly been damaged by this breach in the system. The real question here is the extent of the damages. The answer to that question is that this leak has temporarily demolished the US’s ability to conduct diplomacy with foreign nations. Whether a nation is an ally of the United States or not, during negations, trust and secrecy is established as a basic right and a basis for conversation providing a foundation trust among the parties. This leak has destroyed that trust. The blatant name calling in some of the correspondences take less precedent to the fact that we have lost the trust of secrecy from other countries. Until our breach of security is fixed, the US’s trustworthiness on the world stage is very uncertain. Among those damages include Iran realizing that their Arab neighbors are very much against their nuclear program and even pleading for hostile action which will most likely serve as a catalyst for Iran to accelerate its nuclear program making the danger of a nuclear power in the Middle East much more certain and dangerous. North Korea also finds that the communist state and “ally” of China is also siding more with the Western powers which can make China a target for North Korea’s path of destruction along with South Korea.
ReplyDeleteAssange has not committed a crime because of the fact that published this information instead of giving it to the enemy which is also known as espionage. He has not published libel as the documents are truthful statements and not lies; he has not committed any crimes. Just as the US government would not arrest Rush Limbaugh for publishing a book, Assange was only publishing information. In no way was his actions right or justified, but according to the law and the lack of precedence it will be extremely hard for the US to bring charges and convict Assange. Apart from the little probability for the US to convict Assange, Assange is not even an American citizen which makes matters more complicated. It is much easier to prosecute Bradley Manning who actually broke the law and can be easily prosecuted to the fullest extent instead of using resources to prosecute a man whose conviction is not guaranteed. All in all, Assange’s actions were in no way right but he has not broken the law. What the United States now has to do is reexamine its security and privacy issues because in the least, this is a wakeup call to the government crying for reform (much like other issues).
From what I’ve read from the article, it is obvious the USA was damaged by wiki leaks. Everyone is on the internet today, hence the term “TECHNO TERRORISM”, god wiki leaks must’ve been a dream to Bin Laden who probably thought he would never see the day that an American would give away the secrets which could possibly destroy his country. It is obviously clear that diplomacy has been greatly threatened and could soon be destroyed. As for the founder of this “wiki leaks” website, I believe his fate should already be sealed. He should be executed in a public place in front of all citizens, to show that this country has not stood for, and will never stand for treason. However, I believe he is not solely responsible for this, but in fact has an organization. I believe everyone of them deserve to be shot, treason is unforgiveable and will always be unforgiveable.
ReplyDeleteVittorio Rivera period 3
According to the article it seems that the united states has not faced the repercussions yet, but there are many things that are placed in the light now and its a matter of time till it gets back to the united states. what assange did i feel that i am in the middle and cant make a definite choice of whether it was a crime or not. on one side released information of where troops are located and other documents that could damage us severely. And then on the other hand the argument of saying how if the government is not committing anything wrong they would not have secret documents. The government should create a new law for this type of document release because if more people start realizing how assange is releasing these documents and not being penalized all types of secrets will be released.
ReplyDeleteBased on the article, I think the U.S. was damaged by the data released. I think that not only other nations, but our own people are second guessing the trust they put in the U.S. government. It's almost like you hearing your best friend is talking bad about your other friends, and it makes you think what else they have said, maybe even about you. It is a very questionable situation. I do not think that Assange has committed a crime that the U.S. should apprehend and prosecute him for. He is not a citizen of the U.S. and the knowledge he has posted did not come from him. It is almost like someone getting arrested for repeating something someone else had said. It just does not seem ethical.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Paolotti
Technically, Assange didn’t commit any crime although he did put private information out to the public and he did put people and the US connections in danger, he did not directly put it in the hands of the enemy. After all the whole point of wikileaks is to publish government because if a government is run for the people and by the people then there shouldn’t be any secrets right? I believe the leak although nothing too shocking has destroyed the trust in the US. Besides that Assange could have possible triggered possible war between already hostile countries. Despite the fact that this man is not even a US citizen ( which is the worst part), I do not believe Assange has done anything wrong himself because he was just publishing the information he got just as he would any other piece of information he would have received. The man who downloaded and sent the information and actually broke the law is being punished, the strange part is that this man who was not even of high rank was able to easily find and download this information no problem. But Assange has not published them maliciously as the documents are truthful statements and not lies; he has not committed any crimes, Assange was only publishing information. I do not believe his actions were right or justified, but according to the law it will be hard for the US to bring charges and convict Assange.
ReplyDeletekatelyn disalvo pd 3
Based on the article, the U.S. was damaged by the release of this data. This leak has caused a "clampdown" on many intelligence sharing agencies as well as forcing them to find new measures of protecting files of secrecy. These releases may have aggravated N. Korea in that they've found that China, it's longtime ally, may be turning on them. They have created problems throughout the world. I wouldn't say Assange has committed a crime, but he has found a loophole through the U.S. Government, which has led them to have to arrest him not for WikiLeaks but for rape. They know he's guilty but they couldn't take him in with no evidence of him breaking the law. Assange was given the files, and he released them, legally. As of now, it wasn't illegal. His argument is that all information should be free and that anything to do with Government affairs should be known by it's people.
ReplyDelete