If citizens are kept in the dark about their government's activities, they cannot hold it to account

[Better Believe It]

Let's hope the WikiLeaks cables move us closer to open diplomacy
If citizens are kept in the dark about their government's activities, they cannot hold it to account
By Peter Singer
December 18, 2010


.... when the furor erupted over WikiLeaks' recent release of a quarter-million diplomatic cables, I was reminded of Wilson's 1918 speech in which he put forward "Fourteen Points" for a just peace to end the first world war. The first of those 14 points reads: "Open covenants of peace must be arrived at, after which there will surely be no private international action or rulings of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view."

.... just as we cannot embrace complete disarmament while others stand ready to use their weapons, so Woodrow Wilson's world of open diplomacy is a noble ideal that cannot be fully realised in the world in which we live.

We could, however, try to get closer to that ideal. If governments did not mislead their citizens so often, there would be less need for secrecy, and if leaders knew they could not rely on keeping the public in the dark about what they are doing, they would have a powerful incentive to behave better.

It is therefore regrettable that the most likely outcome of the recent revelations will be greater restrictions to prevent further leaks. Let's hope that in the new WikiLeaks age, that goal remains out of reach.

Read the full article at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/dec/18/wikileaks-cables-open-democracy

[xchrom]

1. indeed. nt

[snappyturtle]

2. Investigative reporting may re-emerge via OpenLeaks:

http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/wikileaks-openleaks-knight-news-challenge


This article gives me some hope for keeping informed about important matters.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Better Believe It.