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Should the U.S government prosecute WikiLeaks co-founder Julian
Assange for publishing classified information?
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THIS?WEEK’S?WEB?POLL:
“Should the U.S government prosecute WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange for publishing classified information?”
Yes
4
No
7
? Karen Anderson: “Yes. These are classified documents. When I handled classified documents in the defense industry, any revelation of the contents were certainly punishable.”
? Dave Appling: “Yes, if an espionage prosecution can succeed (legal opinion on that is split). The deliberate harm done to concourse among nations, and potentially to world peace, will take years to sort out. However, dealing with the incredibly reckless WikiLeaks operation is far more important than just jailing its leader. There is no First Amendment right to do what they have done.”
? Bert Berson: “I have held a top secret clearance. I saw highly classified material appear in public print before or just after I have been asked to prepare it or read it. The classification system is arbitrary, often misused and leaks appear and are not prosecuted. However, Assange broke U.S. law and revealed classified information. A trial is mandatory.”
? Chris Bryant: “Would we be asking the same question if he where publishing material about Iran or Al Qaeda? He is not stealing the information, only publishing it. This bears a chilling resemblance to any other news media which publishes information that some do not want disseminated such as whistle blower information about large corporations. Should these publishers be prosecuted? No.”
? Bob Chidester: “No. I don’t believe he has broken any U.S. laws. Because our mainstream press for the most part, is no longer free and impartial, somebody has to function to keep the government in check. Our founding fathers warned about this potential problem. Until we can return to a free and impartial press, freelance journalists like Julian Assange will have to fill this void. Former CIA career analyst, Ray McGovern stated that most investigative reporters today function more as stenographers than as representatives of the people who toil to seek out the truth.”
? David Cohen: “No. It just draws more attention to this guy.”
? Dennis Kennedy: “No. But, we should prosecute any U.S. citizen who broke the law.”
? Henry Miller: “Yes! His actions have endangered American service personnel and caused irreparable damage to our government’s foreign relations. Give him a fair trial and then hang him for high crimes and misdemeanor.”
? Jeff Nunes: “No. Although the information may have been classified, prosecuting a foreign national for publishing information he was given, and under no obligation to keep secret would be inappropriate. The government should focus on protecting its classified information and prosecuting whoever is responsible for disclosing the classified information to Wikileaks.”
? Lisa Pampuch: “No. Despite popular misconception, WikiLeaks did not indiscriminately post diplomatic cables on its web site. In fact, WikiLeaks posted a tiny percentage of the cables that it has (960 of 251,297), after the cables were published by newspapers and including those newspapers’ redactions of sensitive information. Transparency is a good thing; I’m concerned that the overreaction to WikiLeaks is a threat to independent journalism. There are obvious parallels to the Pentagon Papers.”
? Jeff Smith: “No. Since he doesn’t do the stealing he just provides the platform for the thieves to display their goods – he’s not that different from the New York Times or any other newspaper. The wisdom of publishing classified government documents is another question. The young U.S. military guy that stole the sensitive documents, yes, he should be prosecuted.”
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