It may be that Wikileaks exposes the hypocrisy of governments period putting all authorities in

[dkf]

Question. Just read that Britain advised Libya how to secure the release of the Lockerbie bomber and this is so incredibly cynical I don't know what to say about it.

I wonder how destabilizing exposing Government secrets is and if this portends a whole lot of chaos to come. Add to that food inflation and unemployment to disillusion and this is kind of scary.

[pnwmom]

1. Anything that purposely interferes with diplomacy is destabilizing.

Assange is an anarchist, so that doesn't bother him.

[dkf]

2. Exactly.

Someone said Mubarak's final straw was to humiliate the Egyptian people by getting ready to install his son, leaving no pretense whatsoever that Egypt is a democracy. Reading all these Wikileaks shows how the populace of a whole lot of countries are being played. And when you see revelations spread from country to country, you wonder how all leaders in power operate.

Questioning authority can be contagious.

[backscatter712]

3. If countries aren't using secrecy laws and diplomatic channels to do shady shit,

then they have nothing to worry about.

It's only because they're acting like criminals and getting exposed for it that have them freaked out.

[pnwmom]

4. Diplomats often have to have confidential conversations

and work in the background. It doesn't mean they're doing "shady shit."

Do you think the diplomats that were carrying information about the fate of the Jews during WW2 were doing "shady shit?"

[Catherina]

5. Wikileaks didn't cause the Egyptian or Tunisian revolutions

They've been a long time in the making.

If you're really interested, I can find a link I had up today that lists all the protests over the last decade and how they were brutally crushed, how many people were killed.

[dkf]

6. Yes but what creates the tipping point?

And it's one thing to think your government is corrupt, but when you see official assessments of that corruption it seems much more validating.

[Catherina]

8. Same thing that served as tipping point for most revolutions- hunger, unemployment

Wikileaks didn't reveal anything in Egypt that the Egyptians didn't already know but I agree about the validation you mentioned.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. I know people want to believe that Wikileaks is that much of a game changes

but it is not.

Read your last sentence.

The first food riots (serious ones) started two years ago. It is economic, and a reaction to globalization more than anything. It is also very local to each region. Yes the leaks are having an effect among the chattering classes, but for the people it is about jobs and food, and freedom to say what they think.

[dkf]

9. But a government may seem powerful and insurmountable until their fallibility is exposed.

A reduction or exposure of no moral authority can give the crowd the outrage and courage to do something about all the other circumstances. That is where Wikileaks can come in.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. I am willing to bet that 98% of the people at Tahir square tonight

have never heard of Wiki Leaks. And I am being nice. I am sure it is higher than that.

They are aware that food has gone up by 25% average in the last 12 months though.

[dkf]

12. Well if food inflation causes overthrows then it is only the beginning.

Prices are not coming down soon.

And I'm not sure what overthrowing Mubarak will accomplish on that front.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Yes the age of cheap food is over

so fun times are ahead.

And yes that's been one of the fears...

[Modern_Matthew]

11. Truth is far more important than the consequences of exposing it. Preposterous to fear it. n/t