WikiLeaks: Treasonous or Necessary?

With the recent release of thousands of classified cables, WikiLeaks has grabbed international headlines. The release of the documents has made many people very angry, and put several American diplomats and policy makers in uncomfortable situations. But does the person (or people) who leaked the documents to WikiLeaks deserve death, as Mike Huckabee said?

The free speech issues that the WikiLeaks controversy raises make strange bedfellows. Groups that would otherwise disagree on just about everything find that they agree about WikiLeaks. In fact, this free speech issue is one of the biggest dividers in the conservative movement. Libertarians, one of the ascendant voices in the modern conservative movement, are distrustful of government power, and they have applauded WikiLeaks. Web forums and blogs have been filled with libertarians saying that the release of these documents is an important check on a government that has overstepped its bounds. While I think that many libertarian fears about issues like welfare and foreign aid are overstated and verge on paranoid, on this issue I tend to agree with them.

Now, I can understand the government being upset about the release of the cables. They are certainly embarrassing, and some of them make American officials look silly and downright petty. But at the same time, that’s not the fault of WikiLeaks. That’s the fault of the government officials who made the statements. In this age of tech-savvy hackers, it’s just plain dumb to write things down that you don’t want other people to see. If people’s lives were put in danger, then I could also understand and support the urge to prosecute WikiLeaks. But as far as I can tell, and I certainly haven’t read every document that has been released, there is no life threatening information in the cables. And if there is, then perhaps WikiLeaks ought to take down those cables, or at least redact the names of those involved. I have a feeling, though, that if this applies to any documents, it applies to very few. Simply put, the United States government just got caught with its pants down. Embarrassing, sure, but a threat to national security? I think not.

A robust government, capable of defending its people and supporting the less fortunate, is one of the bedrocks of civil society. And it is on this point that many philosophies stumble. On the right, there is a huge distrust of the government in general, but also a strong support for the military and security services. Republicans don’t want Social Security checks sent to widows or poverty stricken seniors, but they have no problem with wiretaps and a strong military. On the left, many support a strong government with respect for civil liberties, but there is also a view that the government is above reproach in certain circumstances. There is a tendency, I think, for some on the left to put government on a pedestal. Neither the left nor the right has it all correct. Regardless of what some conservatives would like in their dream world, a strong government is important in today’s world. And regardless of what some liberals think, government is made up of humans and screws up just as much as any other organization. WikiLeaks should be seen as an important check on the government. No one is above reproof, be it Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ronald Reagan, John Boehner, or any other political icon you care to mention. They all make mistakes and it only makes the country, and the world, a better place when those errors can be pointed out in the public sphere so they don’t happen again.

So now we’re back at Mike Huckabee’s comments about execution. His off the cuff remarks are actually signs of a dangerous governing philosophy. If everyone followed his advice, we would be ruled by a government that had no fear of exposure on anything. There would be no avenue for conscientious citizens to address their grievances. Yes, the person who leaked the documents broke an oath, and most likely several laws, but treason? Treason is reserved for those who go out of their way to harm their country, for those who intentionally help an enemy to weaken our government. And I am in no way convinced that that is what happened. Public exposure of government actions, with very few exceptions, is a good idea. People can only have intelligent opinions about their leaders and their country if they have access to all the information, even if some of that information makes people in power uncomfortable. As the protagonist in V for Vendetta says, “People should not be afraid of their government, governments should be afraid of their people.”