David Frum, a former speechwriter for George Bush, claims that the publication of the secret papers will put lives at risk in repressive regimes. David Leigh has led the Guardian's investigation and explains the significance of the stories. Sherard Cowper-Coles is a former British diplomat who has worked in Washington, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East. Julian Borger is the Guardian's diplomatic editor and a former Washington bureau chief.. Leave your thoughts at link provided.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2010/dec/03/us-embassy-cables-wikileaks-podcast
Great comment from a Guardian reader...
Great podcast, and great time-saver, so thanks!
As a Yank, I'd point out that David Frum is one of our usual paternalistic, scolding Very Serious Conservatives, and I hope the Guardian will also consider adding other US analysts -- who are more attuned to free flows of information -- in future podcasts. (Frum was born in Canada, BTW.)
It seems that Frum scolds WikiLeaks, the Guardian.uk, and other media for "endangering lives" by publishing anything that hasn't been cleared by at least 6 levels of bureaucracy -- which implies that no one is ever harmed while governments hide information. What codswallop!
Frum's position logically preposterous; however, as an example of neoconservative ideology, it's a fine specimen.
Meanwhile, it seems that Frum and others who tsk-tsk and scold are not quite grasping what's happening on the planet. In an era when I call India for customer service, my car parts are probably made in Europe (or China), I'm eating grapes from Argentina, my kids are watching Bollywood DVDs, and I read the Guardian.uk online, well.... we are living in an increasingly 'global' era, and that puts new demands on the nature and 'flows' of information.
In that world, WikiLeaks is a feature.
The claim by Frum that it's a 'bug' is intellectual blindness, which is characteristic of a neocon worldview.
I appreciate what appears to be the Guardian's discretion, but even more I appreciate the range of reporter and analyst voices you are offering in this podcast - it's my personal view that Declan Walsh is a far more credible analyst on almost any foreign policy topic than any of the right-wing talkers (like Frum) who inhabit the Washington DC Beltway; too few of whom have ever actually lived in the countries they browbeat us Americans about via our so-called 'news' media.
As for the WikiLeaks 'revelations' that Russia is a mafia operation and Pakistan and Afghanistan are corrupt, well... it shouldn't have taken Wikileaks to start those conversations. You didn't have to be a genius to read the headlines and discern those grim realities, but the problem in the US is that we've not spoken frankly about those facts as a nation in our public conversations.
Plus, then we have the complication of ideologues like Frum claiming that if we ever find out what our own government actually thinks or does then - OhMyGodHowScary!!!
Whether it is scary, or not, it is long overdue.
Thanks to the Guardian.uk, and the Internet, maybe we'll make a bit more headway. Your analysis is greatly appreciated, at least by this 'Yank'.
Somehow, I have a hunch that the Guardian.uk has put far more thought into the nature and patterns of information flow in the contemporary world than, say, some of the ideologues in Washington, D.C. Y'all appear to be way ahead of the curve. ....
As a Yank, I'd point out that David Frum is one of our usual paternalistic, scolding Very Serious Conservatives, and I hope the Guardian will also consider adding other US analysts -- who are more attuned to free flows of information -- in future podcasts. (Frum was born in Canada, BTW.)
It seems that Frum scolds WikiLeaks, the Guardian.uk, and other media for "endangering lives" by publishing anything that hasn't been cleared by at least 6 levels of bureaucracy -- which implies that no one is ever harmed while governments hide information. What codswallop!
Frum's position logically preposterous; however, as an example of neoconservative ideology, it's a fine specimen.
Meanwhile, it seems that Frum and others who tsk-tsk and scold are not quite grasping what's happening on the planet. In an era when I call India for customer service, my car parts are probably made in Europe (or China), I'm eating grapes from Argentina, my kids are watching Bollywood DVDs, and I read the Guardian.uk online, well.... we are living in an increasingly 'global' era, and that puts new demands on the nature and 'flows' of information.
In that world, WikiLeaks is a feature.
The claim by Frum that it's a 'bug' is intellectual blindness, which is characteristic of a neocon worldview.
I appreciate what appears to be the Guardian's discretion, but even more I appreciate the range of reporter and analyst voices you are offering in this podcast - it's my personal view that Declan Walsh is a far more credible analyst on almost any foreign policy topic than any of the right-wing talkers (like Frum) who inhabit the Washington DC Beltway; too few of whom have ever actually lived in the countries they browbeat us Americans about via our so-called 'news' media.
As for the WikiLeaks 'revelations' that Russia is a mafia operation and Pakistan and Afghanistan are corrupt, well... it shouldn't have taken Wikileaks to start those conversations. You didn't have to be a genius to read the headlines and discern those grim realities, but the problem in the US is that we've not spoken frankly about those facts as a nation in our public conversations.
Plus, then we have the complication of ideologues like Frum claiming that if we ever find out what our own government actually thinks or does then - OhMyGodHowScary!!!
Whether it is scary, or not, it is long overdue.
Thanks to the Guardian.uk, and the Internet, maybe we'll make a bit more headway. Your analysis is greatly appreciated, at least by this 'Yank'.
Somehow, I have a hunch that the Guardian.uk has put far more thought into the nature and patterns of information flow in the contemporary world than, say, some of the ideologues in Washington, D.C. Y'all appear to be way ahead of the curve. ....