A Rhetorical Perspective on the Issue of WikiLeaks

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Menace or Assurance? :

A Rhetorical Perspective on the Issue of WikiLeaks

Founded in 2006 by Australian journalist Julian Assange, the website WikiLeaks had quickly risen in infamy over the past few years (Majerol 19). The controversial website had posted hundreds of thousands of classified documents about the Iraq and Afghanistan war, revealing government cover-ups, a secret assassination unit and the killing of civilians among many things. The release of these confidential documents has produced two opposing views on whether or not WikiLeaks is a good thing (Pilger 18).

In an article highlighting the benefits of WikiLeaks, Steven Greenhut explains that Julian Assange and his website have “done our nation a service”. Greenhut asserts that by distributing the details on how U.S. government runs its foreign affairs, WikiLeaks is embodying the true spirit of a transparent government, one that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. A truly open government, he says, is the “cornerstone of a free society”. The government, he says, will always pull out the “’endangering lives’ or ‘protecting security’” card in order to protect its own interests and conceal its past transgressions. He insists that there is no proof that any information released by the website will endanger anyone. The only people who will be negatively affected, Greenhut says, would be the government officials whose “hypocrisy and corruption” would be shamefully exposed (Greenhut 1.)

In the opposite side of the argument stands S.E. Cupp. In an article, she says that WikiLeaks and its proponents are jeopardizing innocent life by recklessly releasing unfiltered information for the entire world to access. She argues that by irresponsibly posting classifi...

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... Entertainment, and Gossip - NY Daily News. 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. .

Cupp, Sarah Elizabeth. "Official Website of S.E. Cupp." Red S.E. Cupp. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.

Greenhut, Steven. "WikiLeaks No Threat to Free Society | Government, Information, People - Opinion - The Orange County Register." The Orange County Register : The Orange County Register. 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. .

Majerol, Veronica. "Is WikiLeaks like the Pentagon Papers?" New York Times [New York] 21 Feb. 2011, Vol. 143 ed., Issue 10 sec.: 19. Print.

Pilger, John. "WikiLeaks Must Be Protected." World Citizen [Minneapolis] 23 Aug. 2010, Vol 139 ed., Issue 5015 sec.: 18. Print.

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