The ongoing leak of countless secret U.S. diplomatic messages has now become even more alarming.
Many documents released so far by the unscrupulous “WikiLeaks” have been mainly embarrassing, revealing ugly details of how leaders of various nations feel about each other.
But now, WikiLeaks has put out a secret document giving the locations of sites around the world that are vital to U.S. national security. The locations of key underwater communications lines and of the manufacturers of weapons components are among the sensitive pieces of information divulged in the latest release, U.S. officials said. Also revealed are locations of factories that produce vaccines and antidotes for poisons.
The sites are facilities that “if destroyed, disrupted or exploited, would likely have an immediate and deleterious effect on the United States,” the document stated.
This dangerous release of information should end the irresponsible claim by some that WikiLeaks is simply promoting “transparent government.” Disseminating sensitive national security secrets has nothing to do with legitimate transparency. It could endanger the lives of innocent Americans and others.
The U.S. State Department declared, “Releasing such information amounts to giving a targeting list to groups like al-Qaida.” And Britain’s foreign secretary said the disclosure took place “without regard to … the security of millions of people.”
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is now being held in Britain on suspicion that he committed rape and other crimes in Sweden.
While he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, that seems sadly unlikely to stop WikiLeaks from releasing more sensitive information – to the peril of our national security.