Monday, November 29, 2010
WikiLeaks
People from all different backgrounds can agree that a fundamental role of government is to protect the lives of its citizens. The protection of individuals through national defense and the use of authority to command obedience to the rule of law creates the foundation of a prosperous society. Without the protection of private property, people will not feel that it is safe to accumulate capital which will cause a country to stagnate.
The United States government performs many services that it should avoid according to the criterion of efficiency, yet the one task that people assign to the government no matter what criteria they are viewing the world through is where the United States government is failing. The WikiLeak debacle continues to plague our country as one secret after another is leaked online. The succession of revealed secrets shows that the government is failing to act to prevent security leaks. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has said action will be taken against the perpetrators, but no force has been put behind her words. Without force to deter them, other groups may find that the benefits outweigh the cost of divulging national secrets. The federal government should worry less about debatable functions of the government and focus on protecting our country by prosecuting those involved with the WikiLeaks.
It has been argued that the WikiLeaks contained only information that should have been part of the public domain in the first place, but the type of information revealed is not the issue that is at stake. No matter what type of information it is, if it is labeled as confidential the failure of the government to keep it that way shows weakness. The government, by saying something is private, promises to protect that information. The failure of the government to protect information and punish those who reveal it, makes the country look weak from a security standpoint. Being unable to stop arguing about trivial matters and uphold the rule of law sends the message that American barriers are lax.
References
Lake, Eli. “WikiLeaks: Armenia sent Iran Arms Used to Kill US Troops.” The Washington Times. November 29, 2010. Web.
Carroll, Conn. “Morning Bell: Just Another WikiLeak On An Already Sinking Ship.” The Heritage Foundation. November 29, 2010. Web.
The United States government performs many services that it should avoid according to the criterion of efficiency, yet the one task that people assign to the government no matter what criteria they are viewing the world through is where the United States government is failing. The WikiLeak debacle continues to plague our country as one secret after another is leaked online. The succession of revealed secrets shows that the government is failing to act to prevent security leaks. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has said action will be taken against the perpetrators, but no force has been put behind her words. Without force to deter them, other groups may find that the benefits outweigh the cost of divulging national secrets. The federal government should worry less about debatable functions of the government and focus on protecting our country by prosecuting those involved with the WikiLeaks.
It has been argued that the WikiLeaks contained only information that should have been part of the public domain in the first place, but the type of information revealed is not the issue that is at stake. No matter what type of information it is, if it is labeled as confidential the failure of the government to keep it that way shows weakness. The government, by saying something is private, promises to protect that information. The failure of the government to protect information and punish those who reveal it, makes the country look weak from a security standpoint. Being unable to stop arguing about trivial matters and uphold the rule of law sends the message that American barriers are lax.
References
Lake, Eli. “WikiLeaks: Armenia sent Iran Arms Used to Kill US Troops.” The Washington Times. November 29, 2010. Web.
Carroll, Conn. “Morning Bell: Just Another WikiLeak On An Already Sinking Ship.” The Heritage Foundation. November 29, 2010. Web.
