
PostPartisan - A final warning to WikiLeaks? - jacquesm
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/08/a_final_warning_to_wikileaks.html
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mr_eel
This is very interesting to me. The statement from Geoff Morrell seems weirdly
passive-aggressive.

"Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell made clear this was not a request"

Which implies legal ramifications.

"We are making a demand of them," Morrell said. "We are asking them to do the
right thing."

It's not a request, it's a demand, but they are _asking_ them to do the right
thing. If you're in the position to make demands, you don't cross your fingers
and hope people do what you think is right. You just make sure they do it.

"If doing the right thing is not good enough for them," the Pentagon spokesman
said, alternatives will be explored "to make them do the right thing."

Well thus far the Pentagon is basically begging. If they had a legal stick to
hand I'm sure they'd be using it already. So, what I'm interested to know, is
how they plan on compelling Wikileaks to withhold the information. My sense is
that they're not exactly on a firm footing.

That's not to say they won't come up with a strategy eventually, it's just
this statement makes them seem uncertain.

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doron
Wikileaks might be heralding a time when state secrets are bandied around like
MP3, It is a bottom-up demand, and no matter what you think of its
motivations, its impact will be lasting.

