Curiosity seems to be the driving force within many Americans today. Reading up on their daily gossip or spreading rumors in the high school halls, many of us seem to want to know what’s going on or the next who’s who. One of the more recent scandalous events is the diplomatic secrets leaked by an organization, named WikiLeaks. They’ve recently released many documents, which people say could severely damage the United States’ foreign ally connections. Others argue that the documents were released from the United States database and are true. But when exactly do these exploits of information become too much?
WikiLeaks is an organization that uploads documents and comments on them. This organization is run by a group of hackers from various countries. The founder and now, on of the most targeted men in the world, Julian Assange denies many of the allegations made against him and believes he was only exploiting the truth. Though they’ve been around since 2006, it has recently gained popularity this past summer, when it leaked 90,000 secret documents about the war in Afghanistan. Most recently, over Thanksgiving break the site has released over 250,000 diplomatic secrets.
Heard around the world, countries have been angered by the secrets leaked by WikiLeaks. Many of the leaked diplomatic secrets were about the weaknesses and consisted of many rude comments about the leaders of foreign nations. On Monday Ecuador’s’ foreign minister said that they wanted Assange to come to Ecuador to discuss some of the leaked documents. This was later named false by Ecuador’s president, saying that these were the foreign minister’s beliefs. Sweden has also put Julian on the “most wanted list” and hopes to try him on five counts of sexual molestation. The Swedish government said that Assange could face up to two years in prison.
Within our nation, WikiLeaks is even causing a stir. Government officials and the Federal Bureau of Investigations are leading investigations on who Assange could’ve obtained this information. The United States are also trying to convict Assange of espionage and terrorism. Former President Bill Clinton has stated that he believes that because of the actions of WikiLeaks, some people will lose their lives. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton has also issued statements admitting that Assange has committed a crime against the United States.
Julian Assange believes that he did nothing wrong. He even gave a statement to the Times Magazine saying that Hilary Clinton should quit her job because of the espionage and spying on diplomats. Assange released this information because he had connections and had the intelligence to get this information. His leaks or secrets haven’t been proved wrong either. From the New York Times, David Brooks comments that “far from respecting authority, Assange seems to be an old-fashioned anarchist who believes that all ruling institutions are corrupt and public pronouncements are lies.” Looking through our history books, doesn’t there seem to be a repetition? Since the beginning on our country, we’ve seen treason, scandals, and terrorism repeat itself. If what Assange is leaking is all true, doesn’t the American public have a right to know what their government is doing?
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