Friday, January 28, 2011

Rebuttal

Recently, Wikileaks has become a huge topic as, although it benefits American society and follows the American ideal, it can be very harmful to useful propoganda by the government. According to Camal Saleh:

“What was unique about the site was that it allowed for anyone an “innovative, secure and anonymous way for independent sources around the world to leak information to [its] journalists”. So, the question arises: is Wikileaks overall more harmful or more beneficial to society?”

In his post, Saleh believes that Wikileaks is beneficial to society because American’s deserve to know whats happening in their country. I, on the other hand, believe that Wikileaks is a threat to the nation.

The American ideal was made by men who wanted a free nation not a progressive nation. Our first president was merely a military leader before he rose to office. I have no sour feelings to our founding fathers, but it is the truth. As such, the American ideal cannot be deemed as a vital political tool. During the Second World War, heavy propaganda was used to increase the military population and support. Had American government decided to follow the ideal and release the gory truth of war, the Allies may not have won.

The current situation may not be as extreme as a world war. However, Saleh does use the wars in the Middle East as a few of his examples. Getting 600,000 troops out of a country that will fire at them at first sight is not a particularly easy task. When Wikileaks releases the number of troops currently still in Iraq, protest erupts. However, the people to do riot do so at Obama who, according to the New York Times, has left less than 100,000 thousand troops there.

Wikileaks is an example of the American ideal misused by its citizens. The site has given distrust between the people and their governmen. As a result, the government can not raise enough money through funds and donations to get those troops out of the Middle East. It’s a cycle that the government is trying to stop but the people are trying to continue.

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