President Obama on Whistleblowers: Then and Now

[LAGC]

THEN: “We only know these crimes took place because insiders blew the whistle at great personal risk ... Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal,” -- Barack Obama, while campaigning in 2008

NOW: The Obama administration moved Monday to contain potential damage to U.S. national security from the WikiLeaks release of tens of thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic documents and said it might take criminal action against the whistle-blowing Internet site. ( link )

What ever happened to candidate Obama whom we all rallied behind and supported in 2008???

[RandomThoughts]

1. That is actually a good question.

Maybe he is not being allowed to say what he believes, we have to face the possibility that it is up to Americans and face the possibility that the people in such positions are under restraint or unjust coercion and not able to speak freely on many issues.

[Azathoth]

2. Where are the "crimes"?

Releasing a mass of unrelated documents with the goal of embarrassing the government is not the same thing as releasing documents specifically to blow the whistle on a crime that has been committed. Unless of course you just hate the US government and see anything that hinders them as a net positive...

[LAGC]

3. I think we've yet to see the most damning info.

What Wikileaks has released so far is just the tip of the iceberg. There's no telling how many whistle-blowers will be emboldened to submit classified information now that this huge release has been made public.

[Azathoth]

4. That might be true but it's clear that whoever did the leaking wasn't interested in revealing crimes

or malfeasance. He had a security clearance and he simply grabbed everything he could, obviously hoping some of it would turn out to be embarrassing or scandalous. That's not a conscientious whistle-blower -- that's a malcontent with an ax to grind.

[LAGC]

5. Well, lets assume that it really was PFC Bradley Manning who leaked.

Did he not have good reason to be angry at his government?

During his duties he came across crimes being committed by Iraqi Federal police. From his chat with Adrian Lamo, the two-faced rat who turned him in:

Manning: was watching 15 detainees taken by the Iraqi Federal Police… for printing “anti-Iraqi literature”… the iraqi federal police wouldn’t cooperate with US forces, so i was instructed to investigate the matter, find out who the “bad guys” were, and how significant this was for the FPs… it turned out, they had printed a scholarly critique against PM Maliki… i had an interpreter read it for me… and when i found out that it was a benign political critique titled “Where did the money go?” and following the corruption trail within the PM’s cabinet… i immediately took that information and *ran* to the officer to explain what was going on… he didn’t want to hear any of it… he told me to shut up and explain how we could assist the FPs in finding *MORE* detainees…

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/wikileaks-chat/

So he comes to find out that dissidents in Iraq are being arrested and disappeared into Iraqi prisons for the "crime" of being concerned about corruption in Maliki's government... and his superior officer effectively tells him "So what? Just find us more detainees!" If the account is true, he was being used by his government for suppressing democracy in Iraq! If you were in his shoes, wouldn't you feel compelled to do something about it?

Maybe releasing all those documents was the only way Manning could think of to get back at this corrupt government with its bullshit imperialist war efforts abroad. Yet, instead of holding him up as a hero, this government chooses to detain him indefinitely and persecute him for his brave act. Some democracy we live in.

[Azathoth]

9. Well, now we come to the heart of it

It's not about righting specific crimes or exposing specific lies. It's about "getting back" at this "imperialist government" by hurting them any way we can; in this case, releasing any State Department document we can find, including communiques talking about Gaddafi's blonde nurse.

Sorry, I'm not into that type of "down with the imperialist pigs by any means necessary" revolutionary nonsense, and it's patently laughable that people think the President of the United States should countenance that kind of behavior.

[jeanpalmer]

7. Seems like there's plenty of malfeasance

in there.

[Azathoth]

8. Where? n/t

[Fruittree]

10. That seems to be the difference to me too..

There has to be some privacy and some restraint. I'm afraid what we're doing is bringing down our own government with no guarantee that what's going to replace it isn't going to be worse...

[jeanpalmer]

6. Good one LAGC

He must have meant whistleblowers on other administrations.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[impik]

12. No crimes were reported here. Just a whole lot of personal discussions

and huge diplomatic embarrassment to the USA. But stay in La-La-La land. It's nice there with the head in the sand.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Candidate Obama next to President Obama is the proof

that the Presidency is a compromised and controlled office. The casting of the player is about as unimportant as who plays the mayor on a soap opera.