From “WikiLeaks: Time to Celebrate, Time to Mourn” by Jeff Cohen at TruthOut:”
“It’s a big win for Internet-based, indie media that WikiLeaks.org posted its ‘Afghan War Diary,’ based on 90,000 leaked US military records detailing a failing war in which US and allied forces have repeatedly killed innocent civilians. This on-the-ground material is vaster than the Daniel Ellsberg-leaked Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War and was much faster in reaching the public.
Thanks to the Internet and new technologies, it’s easier than ever for a whistleblower to anonymously leak documents exposing official abuses and deception, easier to copy and disseminate vast quantities of material and easier for journalists and citizens to cull through all the data.”
Questions for consideration: An NYU journalism blog described WikiLeaks as the world’s first “stateless newspaper.” What do you think of this notion of a “stateless newspaper”? How should WikiLeaks be held accountable for what it publishes, if at all? What impact will these leaked documents — which give details of civilian killings — have on public support for the ongoing war in Afghanistan? On policy?
Want to learn more?
- WikiLeaks does humanity a service
- Here are the things I have learned thus far from the documents released via Wikileaks
- WikiLeaks’ Afghan Documents and Me
- The WikiLeaks Afghanistan leak
- The Afghanistan War Logs Released by Wikileaks, the World’s First Stateless News
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