Sometime ago, on the TV show, Sixty Minutes, Julian Assange surely didn't come across as some egomaniac national security threat as he's been portrayed. He came across as a fervent evangelical for transparency (overused concept, how about just honest) in government. And, will have to say this, his interviewer, Steve Croft didn't throw him any softballs either. I'm no Julian Assange trumpeter but I am for telling it like it is. Let's establish blame here. In my way of thinking, it is hard to say. But, the government has to come in for a good hit. Bradley Manning ,the young soldier that did the leaking, supposedly, surely, but give me a break, a lower ranking enlisted soldier with the capacity to have assess to all this classified material. Come on, the government types who are in charge of secrets have got to be better than that. Manning, who knows computers, etc., probably but come on, he's a midget in the system for God's sake. In some ways, anybody who has been associated with the military knows that it is almost the nature of the beast for lower ranking enlisted types to get to hating the Army (Navy, Marines) or at least the decisions they've made. This is all speculation, but you get some kid without much direction but very computer savvy joins the military. Some recruiter has talked him into it, sounds good, gets a bonus. A couple of years down the road, he's looking at four or five more years in the military. He's bored, has a computer job, maybe a less than aware boss in turns of authority. Who knows! He decides to play some games, get back at the military for probably some inexplicable reason. Who knows but for him to even have assess to some of this material is unfathonable to me.
So, now what. The government, military needs to suck it up. We f...ed up. Eric Holder who seems less than the brightest bulb in the lot, needs to quit threatening. Fall on your sword. Remedy the problem so this can't happen again and get a grip on really what is classified. I often wonder what in the hell happens to people. I guess it is a "group think." The government slaps a "classified" label on things that don't need it and they throw around terms like national security when it is bullshit. Any of us who have spent any time around the government or the military get it quickly.
Do I think that the military in particular will learn any lessons. Hell no. Instead of falling on their sword, saying we f...ed up, they be hollering national security, court martialing Manning, overall putting their brains in formaldehyde. Think Pat Tillman, Abu Grabib, all kinds of other "who is watching the store" mentality.
I've talked to lots of my buddies of all different persuasions--to a person, they came away from the Sixty Minutes segment on the Assange interview with a favorable impression of someone who might be basically embracing old time American ideals which we may have ourselves let slip.
So, what's going to happen? Well, it's going on for years. The government probably should negotiate with Assange if there really are some honest to goodness national security issues which I doubt or especially if naming names will put someone's life in jeopardy. Manning. Give him an Article Fifteen, which is a slap on the wrist and discharge him with a general discharge under less than honorable conditions. Will that make any difference. Only that somebody in the military had used good common sense and when Manning writes his book, the military will look better.
This sounds like a big-time putdown of the military in particular. Not so as I see it. The military overall is more fair than most gigantic organizations and are not victims of the whims of money (it is taxpayer money anyway). Unfortunately, as I see it, not enough real thinkers get to the decision making point who can say, we f...ed up and I'm sorry. But, overall, if we could, we'd be better off in the long run if we could learn this lesson. MY OPINION.
No comments:
Post a Comment