Image via WikipediaA website called Wikileaks is creating headaches for the U.S. government again. This time, the site has posted millions of formerly secret documents from the State Department online.Fearing untold damage to diplomatic efforts, the government announced measures to tighten access to who sees what on those cables. But when a low-level military official (an Army private, actually) can store classified information inside a Lady Gaga CD and send it to an organization dedicated to exposing secrets, keeping a lid on things have become difficult in the Internet age.
The information itself is more embarrassing than dangerous. It's on the level of how many sexual affairs your loved ones confessed to in their diaries, which they thought were never meant to see the light of day. Such as: Saudi Arabia wanting the U.S. to wipe out Iran's nuclear program, China having no problem with North and South Korea reuniting in a Seoul-based government, and various unflattering comments about certain world leaders.
(Maybe Mark Twain had the right idea in leaving out certain details of his soon-to-be-available autobiography until a century after his death.)
Not that Wikileaks' founder, Julian Assange, should be considered a role model of any sort. He's wanted by Interpol for alleged sex crimes in Sweden. But according to CBS News, Assange's supporters plan on fighting fire with fire should he end up serving prison time. They say they'll just put out more leaks.
This is only the beginning of the leaks, we're told, and there's not a thing anyone can do to stop them. One wonders, though, if all this sunshine has any real benefit to people beyond historians, journalists and those who work in government.
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