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State Secrets 
Mon Nov 29, 2010 at 07:39:35 AM MST
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The Wikileaks story is going to be the big news for a while, but I thought I'd talk about the need for balance in terms of secrecy. The release of the hundreds of thousands of diplomatic communications is going to be more than a little embarrassing. How could it not be? These are internal communications where frank and perhaps overly blunt observations will be shared or statements by our government or foreign governments might be contrary to publicly stated policy.
Secrecy is a tough thing in a democracy. Democracy requires a well informed electorate to function. There is a real need for a free people to have the facts when they are deciding on their elected representatives. Knowing what our government really means when it states it policy publicly is a critical factor.
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Tue Jun 15, 2010 at 05:38:35 AM MST
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There is nothing about torture that is good or positive. The act itself is one of the most brutal and heinous that humans have ever committed. The affect on a society that condones torture is one of rising fear and brutality. The information (if it can be called that) gained under torture is so suspect as to be worthless. Perhaps the worst aspect is that torture, once accepted is used not only on enemies or bad people, but innocent victims as well.
On Monday the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of one such innocent victim of torture, Mr. Maher Arar, a Syrian born Canadian citizen. In 2002 he was returning to Canada from a trip abroad. At a stop over at JFK Airport he was detained by the US Government and held in solitary confinement for two weeks without access to an attorney. Mr. Arar was then deported, not to his nation of citizenship, Canada but, to Syria and put in the hands of the Syrian intelligence services, who are well known for their torture activities.
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