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WikiLeaks: The US Embassy Cables

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WikiLeaks Cable Dump and the Function of Secrecy

02 min 01 sec

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Did the U.S. diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks belong in the public domain? Former diplomat Sir Richard Dalton argues no, that secrecy plays an extremely important role in international diplomacy.

"Secrets exists for a reason," says Dalton. "Much of this information ... did not belong in the public domain."
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35 min 53 sec

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Previous FORAtv comments:

Scorpion84

Posted: 01.09.11, 02:58 PM

Would be good to have had the full discussion and with a better sound quality. It's complicated to take anything from this video when you have cuts in the middle of questions or even answers without questions. I know the full one might have 2 hours or more, but we should have the option, that's my opinion.

antiguajohn

Posted: 01.09.11, 01:16 PM

Hi Tapcs, Perhaps drunk or bored? Or perhaps parts were edited to honor the Bureaucratic tradition of never ever allowing the public to know all the facts;-) I believe that’s why they are so upset with Wikileaks. Best wishes, antiguajohn

Tapcs

Posted: 01.09.11, 09:48 AM

Was the cameraman bored, or perhaps drunk?

antiguajohn

Posted: 01.08.11, 09:59 PM

If I were a history professor I would fail the people on the panel representing various state departments and diplomatic services. They ask for secrecy to protect vital negotiations that so that they might engender peace. Lets look back at history so we can expose the lie inherent in their argument, I only need to mention one to make my point, though history is replete with scores of examples of secrecy resulting in generations of unnecessary conflict resulting in untold suffering and millions of deaths. To whit the 1953 Iranian coup d'état which removed a secularist and democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, this coup was supported by the United States at the request of the United Kingdom through the covert Operation Ajax, done out of embassies. This was done to protect the interests of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, later to be renamed British Petroleum Company (BP), see Wikipedia article for info; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'état If this atrocity had been exposed at the time by something like Wikileaks, the installation of the dictator Shaw Reza, the Savak and it’s murderous ways, followed by the Shaw’s overthrow which led to the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, without the coup the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, would not have occurred. A secular and democratic Iran would have stabilized the middle east and shown the value of open democratic government, a stable economy and thus removed most of the reasons behind the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. For your education (and those in diplomacy who seem to be obtuse) a Wikipedia article on the 1953 Iranian coup; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Ir...état#Blowback And as I fervently believe that it is futile to have any serious discussion without injecting humor, might I suggest you watch this video, “the history of oil by Robert Newman”, laugh and learn at the same time, a concept that schools should seriously consider adopting; <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5267640865741878159> Scientia Non Domus, (Knowledge has No Home) antiguajohn