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News from the Middle East - How Much Are We Actually Hearing?

Elise Coby 

   based on our past discussion of Julian Assange, we can continue to wonder what other information could be kept from us. In relation to the Assange blog, the hot topic of Chelsea Mannings documents leaked via WikiLeaks which contained the killing of nearly 66,000 civilians created a major issue of trust and transparency with the government. That leaves us with the question, what else is being kept from us in the Middle East?

    The ongoing issue of government transparency remains questionable. However, we need to consider both sides of the story. From U.S New's article, "Why Classified Secrets Should Be Kept From the Public", Gabriel Schoenfeld discusses the tense history between the news media and the government over disclosures of classified information. "Sure. Secrecy can facilitate renegade governmental activity, as we saw in Watergate and the Iran-contra affair. It can also be a breeding ground for corruption, like the case of Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who used classified [funding] earmarks to enrich his cronies. But, since 9/11, we've been involved in a war where secrecy is one of the most critical tools of national defense. Yet in our own era, national-security leaking occurs with abandon." Schoenfeld argues that since 9/11 the involvement in a war in which secrecy plays such a large role is driving one of the most important strategies of national defense. While people may argue that because it's our government, we deserve to hear every bit of information because it pertains to us but I would have to agree with Schoenfeld in this respect. I do believe that if the government disclosed everything to the public, chaos would break loose and our defense strategies would be little to nothing of efficiency which would/ could ultimately put all of us in danger. 

    However, what I find unacceptable are the cases in which information of innocent killings that the United States was responsible for such as Chelsea Mannings documents leak which was our only outlet of what was actually happening in the Middle East at the time. I ask then, is it a matter of reputation for our government? How come we don't hear about what's going on over in the Middle East? What are we doing over there? Why are we there? When was the last time you heard something about the Middle East in a descriptive, detailed news report? I can't remember one. But why? You would think because there's already such pushback about a transparency issue, we would hear more about military efforts in locations besides our own homeland but instead, in terms of censorship, we might/ do not get the full story. This idea plays into the argument of why Julian Assange is in the position he is in now because he cracked a bit of the wall that withheld confidential information that Americans should have known about, he is now incarcerated for life.

    In the Atlantic's article, "The U.S. Government Keeps Too Many Secrets", Mike Giglio discusses the negative effects of the culture of secrecy and its vulnerability to abuse. "Yet when so much information among the vast U.S. national-security apparatus is classified without good reason, it exacerbates a culture of secrecy that is vulnerable to abuse. There is little oversight, Goitein said, when it comes to determining whether a decision to classify something was the right one—while decisions not to classify something can lead to heavy penalties." The idea of classification without good reason stands the most out to me- seriously, what is the reason? The fact that in certain, if not most situations the government can't explain why information can't be disclosed causes even more curiosity and agitation. 

    My hope for the future is for the government to establish a just system in which information can safely be disclosed for the sake of transparency to maintain the relationship with the American people. But who can say they will?