Weasels & Heroes
Leaking secrets is slightly akin to spying and therefore always a risky business. I like this description taken from the Blackadder television series where Captain Blackadder is being informed of the presence of a german spy:
Captain Darling: “So you see, Blackadder, Field Marshal Haig is most anxious to eliminate all these German spies”.
General Melchett: “Filthy Hun weasels fighting their dirty underhand war!”
Captain Darling: “And, fortunately, one of our spies—”
General Melchett: “Splendid fellows, brave heroes, risking life and limb for Blighty!”
Captain Darling: “…has discovered that the leak is coming from the Field Hospital”.
Clearly it depends on where you stand as to whether you’re a filthy weasel or a brave hero.
Current case in point is Wikileaks, who have made public a host of private government diplomatic communications. Howling cries of “filthy weasel” can be heard on national television right now. Some reaction has been quite over the top, with one call for the culprits to be executed. So far there is almost no “news” in any of the so called revelations. Rather we’re told Russia is a mafia state, the Saudi’s are nervous about a nuclear Iran and China thinks North Korea is becoming a liability. Not earth shattering stuff. The fact that governments don’t say in private what they say in public doesn’t even qualify as news. About the only thing I was surprised about was the instruction by Hillary Clinton to gather biometric samples from UN officials.
What this mostly reminds me of is Howard Stern. He seems to make a living off saying out loud what other only think or say in private.
What we certainly do have here are some embarrassed diplomats and politicians, but if they could swallow some their enormous ego’s we might get some perspective. Firstly, this kind of stuff is far from new and secondly, a little transparency is good for society.
In 1963 in was reveled Kim Philby had been a Soviet agent since 1934. In 1971 the pentagon papers revealed the american government had systematically lied about the war in Vietnam. In 1974 Nixon resigned because it was revealed he lied about the watergate break ins and obstructed the inquiry. Transparency is a foundational part of the democratic form of government and for good reasons.
Unfortunately, it is the nature of mankind to harbor a group of traits what we generally label as “evil”. People lie, cheat, steal and murder. It was Henry Kissinger who said power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. For these reasons we choose transparency as a good course to run. It’s seen in the way public companies have to be audited so the truth about the accounts can be seen by investors. It’s why almost all our law is conducted in open courts rather than behind closed doors. It’s why laws exist for politicians to declare their campaign contributions.
It’s a simple principle that it’s harder to lie, cheat, steal and murder in the full light of day than in the dark.
Even though I have questions about Wikileaks motives, I would like to point out this kind of revelation builds strength into our society rather than tearing it down. Open transparent regimes survive and dark closed secret ones die. Even if our governments look a little bad in the light, remember that a few misplaced words by diplomats pails in comparison to regimes who oppress and murder their own citizens on a daily basis.
Comments
Post new comment