This is legen...wait for it... HUGE.
The US tries very hard to project a certain image to the rest of the world, and this leak damages that reputation almost beyond repair. In some ways, this is more damaging to the United States than a terrorist attack, because this chips away at America's very legitimacy as a moral superpower.
Sec. of State Clinton and a host of diplomats have been shuttering around to foreign embassies apologizing in advance for the content of the cables. The White House issued a statement on Sunday which read:
"We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information."
The reaction has been a bipartisan uproar. One Republican (Rep. King - NY, R) has already called for WikiLeaks to be designated as a "terrorist organization". A Democrat (Sen. McCaskill - MO, D) wants Obama to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
But for all their yammering and shaking fists, one thing won't change: the information is out. How the US, namely Obama, will weather the storm of controversy in the coming months remains to be seen.
To put things in perspective: The US isn't the only country implicated in all of this. In fact, the WikiLeaks... leak... could ultimately prove more damaging to Arab countries trying desperately to sit on the fence like Saudi Arabia, whose King Abdullah has been secretly supporting Western attempts to halt the Iranian nuclear threat while stopping short of openly criticizing Ahmadinejad.
However, as a world superpower, all eyes will be on the US and how they handle this colossal embarrassment.
My advice to the White House is: Remember who we are supposed to be. A Western, liberal democracy that openly permits criticism against its government by its own civilians. There are two kindergarten sayings that will greatly benefit the White House's response to this:
1) Sticks and stones (or energy dependence on Arab states) may break our bones, but words will never hurt the United States of America.
2) When you can't beat em (by censoring the Internet), join em.
The leak is out. Instead of trying to condemn it and fight it, why not save some face by just owning up to it? Yes, world, you're right - we did say these things. But we also live in a very complicated and nuanced world with the threat of a nuclear Iran looming over any international diplomatic efforts.
Let's give some credit to the public to do some research, or give us the benefit of the doubt, in knowing that this really isn't that bad. Of COURSE we are making secret deals and masking them with false premises and misleading - we're playing the game, just like anyone else! None of this should come as any surprise to an educated person. The key is for the White House to own up to that and acknowledge it.
I don't expect an official White House response on the content of the leak - it's too dicey, politically. But Joe Biden, if you're ever going to have one of your oh-so-blunt moments, please have one now and say what needs to be said. The WikiLeaks are a giant "Duhhhhh".
What makes us better than most of the world isn't that we are a saintly country that never makes mistakes, lies, or manipulates - it's that we value the freedom of our own citizens to call our government out on it. Let's value the freedom that WikiLeaks gives us, as citizens, to form our own opinions.
No comments:
Post a Comment