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Emily Kircher
ENC1102
Professor McGriff
9 November 2016
WikiLeaks Benefits the Citizens of America
WikiLeaks is a site that uploads untold secrets and documents concerning countries all
around the world and the important figures controlling those countries. It was first introduced in
2001 by a man that goes by the name of Julian Assange. Assange was provoked and scorned for
his leaks from the media and political figures while only attempting to share the truth about the
countries he leaked information on. According to many media platforms, Assange is a criminal
and a traitor who should be imprisoned, but in reality, he was the only one to shed light on their
lies and secrets. Is WikiLeaks honestly harming the Citizens of America specifically and
shouldnt it be encouraged if it is benefiting the Citizens by giving them the truth? The answer is
obvious: WikiLeaks benefits the Citizens of America and the people have a right to know the
truth about their government. Many people are fooled by the Governments lies on specific events
such as Benghazi and Iran or important figures such as Hillary Clinton and Anthony Weiner but
when WikiLeaks interferes, the truth comes out. Julian Assange and Edward Snowden utilize
WikiLeaks as an advantage for the Citizens of America so they now know what Amendments
might not be respected, the collateral damage that is never discussed, and the truth about who
they might have elected.

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WIKILEAKS HISTORICALLY
The idea of WikiLeaks has been around for ages, people just see it differently when a
name is put on it. The author of "Cable news: What is WikiLeaks Really Trying to Tell Us? We
Asked Eminent Historians and Ambassadors to Take the Long View on These Startling
Documents, Starting With a Short History of Secrecy", Margaret Macmillan, describes
WikiLeaks as any other exposure of government information recorded in history. Its stated that
down through the centuries there have always been Julian Assanges too (Macmillan). She lists
multiple encounters of when historic figures had revealed secrets about themselves and explains
how there will always be someone who exposes the secrets of important figures. She uses
examples such as Greek Legends, President Wilson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt to prove that the
WikiLeaks idea has been around for a while. Concluding with the indication that WikiLeaks
will lead to consequences just as all other situations came with consequences. Along the line of
consequences, some believe WikiLeaks is irresponsible and should be discontinued. According
to the American Prospect, Monica Potts believes someone cant make all information public
and then decide later that, hey, maybe it actually was vital to national security and should have
been kept private but Gabriel Arana suggests that most of the information becoming exposed is
in the publics interest to know (The American Prospect). Much of the country is against each
other when it comes to WikiLeaks but bottom line, Assange has enlightened the Citizens of
America and thats a job well done.

JULIAN ASSANGE

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Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are both involved leaking information about
powerful figures and updating sites like WikiLeaks. Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks and
was questioned for his leaking and essentially threatened to be prosecuted. The author of
WikiLeaks Prosectution Would Imperil Freedom of the Press, James Goodale, states his
opinion about prosecuting Assange multiple times: saying that if he was prosecuted, it would no
longer be conspiracy to commit espionage it would then be conspiracy to commit
journalism. This creates an even bigger problem because it now affects the millions of
journalists out there obtaining information and then reporting it. He states that the First
Amendment allows protection unto journalists even if the information was stolen as long as they
did not help commit the crime, meaning any journalist is protected and safe from imprisonment
as long as they did not directly steal the information (Goodale). This means that Assange is
protected by law, and if he is prosecuted, it will reveal that the government ignores the
constitution, consequently stating they now ignore all the unalienable rights a citizen owns. Not
only would journalists all over the Nation fear their chances of prosecution, the American People
would fear their rights being taken away. If Assange was prosecuted by the Government of the
United States, citizens all over the country would then fear the power of the Government; they
would revolt and management would crumble, leaving the people without a leader to guide them.
And to think, this all arose because one man wanted to share to truth about the Government we
live under. As surprising and unsettling this is, some people still want to see Assange prosecuted.
The author of WikiLeaks is an Unprecedented Threat to US National Security, Marc Thiessen,
describes WikiLeaks as an attack on the United States along with many other countries. He
believes that WikiLeaks has declared cyber war and America has done nothing in reaction
(Thiessen). WikiLeaks, according to Thiessen, is an unprecedented threat to US National

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security and should be stopped (Thiessen). He explains several steps to defeating WikiLeaks
and explains how it is essential for it to be destroyed. He believes that the US government should
rally together those who are willing to defeat WikiLeaks through many processes such as
shutting down its servers and removing any financial help its receiving. His main argument is
that WikiLeaks is an act of terrorism and should be addressed accordingly by the United States
and any other country affected by WikiLeaks. While his argument is well structured, its
ignorant. Assange is not acting in terrorism, rather unveiling those who are actively
reprimanding this country and sharing it with the people who still remain in the shadows.

EDWARD SNOWDEN
Edward Snowdens story is similar to Assanges but differs in that Snowden did not
create the WikiLeaks site but he was the first to create a big leak out of the National Security
Agency (Harding). He leaked massive surveillance footage of the NSA right under their noses.
Having worked at the NSA, Snowden could easily download the top secret information onto a
flash drive and release it to the public illuminating the horrific surveillance footage the
Government has on the American people. Over the coming weeks, Snowdens claims would
ignite an epochal debate forcing him to flee the country to Hong Kong in fear of his freedom
(Harding). As Snowden reviewed his case in his Hong Kong hotel room . . . [he] was calm . . .
in the aftermath of his leaks, Snowden recognized imprisonment would surely follow (Harding).
The White House and Downing Street became infuriated, Snowden slipped out of Hong Kong,
attempted to gain asylum in Latin America, and got stuck in Vladimir Putins Moscow
(Harding). His actions were heroic and courageous, as displayed through the way he informed

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the Citizens of America about the not-so constitutional government controlling and overseeing
the public; and what did he get for his dauntless work . . . prosecution. This scares some of the
American people into believing the Government is attempting to remove Constitutional rights
such as the right to privacy. Although this theory of tyranny makes sense to the right-minded
person, some people disagree and believe Snowdens prosecution was justified. For example,
one man, Benjamin Wittes, the author of In Snowden We Trust? Never, is strongly against
Snowden and his will to leak classified surveillance documents. Wittes claimed that he was
unmoved by Snowdens performance when Snowden was interviewed on his story through
NBC (Wittes). Understanding it as a joke, Wittes goes on to lists reasons why Snowden is
arrogant and unimportant. He believes that Snowden lies about everything he says and is a
coward for hiding out in Moscow when the United States revoked his passport. Snowden
explained that he was not afraid of prison and Wittes questioned why he hid then. Wittes main
problem with Snowden is that he believes Snowden thinks he can do whatever he wants with no
consequences, whether it be revealing any information on the US Government or breaking any
laws. According to Wittes, [Snowden] believes he is above the law . . . and thinks he can
determine what he can get tried for when in reality, Snowden just wanted to inform the public on
their lies and cowardly acts (Wittes).

THE AMENDMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION

Upholding the Constitution is extremely important and is why many journalists can do
what they do without fear of prosecution. The author of The First Amendment Enables
Journalists to Publish Unpopular Truths, Tim Wu, explains the importance of the First

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Amendment, freedom of speech, and what could happen if the government decides to ignore it.
He describes the consequences to the proposed idea of ignoring the First Amendment: the
citizens of America and other countries will assume the government can now decide on anything
without concern for its citizens. He believes that the United States needs to uphold the
Constitution no matter what WikiLeaks reveals. Wu makes it clear that he does not support
WikiLeaks and has no sympathy for Assange or his websites activities but does support the
First Amendment (Wu). Even though this man is against Assange, he understands the
importance of the constitution. Its obvious that not everyone will have the same opinions on the
worlds topics but if everyone acted as Wu did, this country would be in much better shape. The
author of Collateral Damage, Paul Moses, explains the WikiLeaks reveal on the Pentagon
documents about the Iraqi body count from the war in Afghanistan. For some unidentified
reason, Defense Secretary Donald Rums-Feld told the news that they dont do body counts or
keep record of their names and reasons for death when in fact they do (Moses). WikiLeaks has
made it possible for Iraq Body Count to prove that the Pentagon has, indeed, secretly always
known the names and details of how many people died (Moses). WikiLeaks reveals this hidden
secret only making it harder to trust the government. Moses proclaims that the truth needs to be
told on why they lied in the first place and then proceeds to question what else they are hiding
from the Citizens of America. The Government needs to stop lying or the American people will
lose all trust in them.

POLITICAL FIGURES: HILLARY CLINTON

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There are many political figures that were elected and evidently lied to the American
people about their true plans and ideas for the country like Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton has
fooled the American people and WikiLeaks is trying to expose her. Author Howard LaFranchi of
Clintons WikiLeaks Alchemy: Can She Turn Outrage into Unity on Iran?, explains how
Clinton attempted to divert the public to international unity from the leaked WikiLeaks which
disclosed much information about Iran and their weapons. LaFranchi believes it is important for
the public to know that Iran was making bombs and Clinton just stood by watching perhaps
endorsing them. The United Nations approved a request that paved the way for the US, the
European Union, Japan, and others to [improve] their own sanctions regimes against Iran while
Clinton attempted to distract people from the truth WikiLeaks exposed on her (LaFranchi). This
is not the only time Clinton lied to the American Citizens and one particular crime stands out to
them: her email scandal. Some Americans still do not know the truth about Benghazi and choose
to believe that the deleting of her emails was truly an accident. Even if she was telling the truth,
which shes not, the use of personal emails for classified Intel is wildly inappropriate and
termination to anyone in that position should be applied; furthermore, a person in that level of
superiority could and very well should be prosecuted and imprisoned. This was not a matter of
simply sending a prompt email; it was a matter of life and death. Four Americans died that day
because of her careless actions and she has the audacity to look into the eyes of their families and
deny any responsibility. To create an even bigger problem, Clinton then decides she is going to
run for President of the United States up against celebrity Donald Trump. While she believed the
American people were on her side, WikiLeaks thought otherwise and so did many journalists.
Author of Dirty Work, Rick Perlstein, is tremendously conservative and supports WikiLeaks
as it reveals Intel on Clinton and believes that her confidential files should be exposed. When

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Sanders was still in the presidential race, Perlstein believed that information should be released
to pin Clinton and Sanders against each other, trusting that if they were against each other both
candidates could be knocked down. During the Democratic National Convention, Perlstein
believed Assange surely hoped emails like [a pro-Clinton staffer] would put supporters of
Clinton and Sanders at each others throat . . . creating an opening for Trump to swing in and
take the election (Perlstein). As the election went on, Clinton and Trump seemed to own the polls
over other candidates and WikiLeaks decided to interfere. Congressman Anthony Weiner has
had trouble in the past dealing with a sexting scandal to under aged girls. But thats not all; it
seems that Clintons personal emails somehow appeared onto Weiners laptop. His wife Huma
Adein was the recipient and replier to those emails as she was close to Clinton much like a right
hand woman. The FBI had searched the computer while looking for child pornography and
happened to bump into roughly 650,000 emails (Durden). Its quite an embarrassing time for
that family and just recently for Clinton as well seeing as she lost to election to what the media
called a spoiled businessman. And theres one thing Hillary Clinton still cant wrap her small
head around: the American people could see right through that criminal smile of hers, no amount
of political training can change that.

CONCLUSION
While conservatives over the Country are relieved Clinton didnt make office, they still
want to see her sent to prison. WikiLeaks can only do so much and its time the law steps in to
finally comprehend her email scandal. Republicans, however, are not the only ones admiring the
work of hackers, everyone wants the truth whether theyre independent, democrat, or republican

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and unfortunately, Edward Snowden faces 30 years in prison for giving them the truth. Snowden
risked his freedom for the people and even if some Americans whine about how they dont
believe leaking top-secret information is safe or how its irresponsible, its the only thing sharing
the truth about our world and the Citizens should be grateful. Learning the truth about our
soldiers being left behind in Benghazi is hard to hear but until our Country can figure out how to
work together with itself and other countries, WikiLeaks is the answer. Focusing on the total
honesty of America is depressing and this should be a wake-up call for the people of this
Country. The people need to make a change; elect those who truly adore this Country, recognize
everyone as important no matter what their political party is, and start concentrating on this
nation before helping those around. WikiLeaks is not trying to destroy this Country; its trying to
inform the people on what is really happening here, on all the horrible lies floating around.
WikiLeaks really is benefiting the Citizens of America and fixing our Country is the first step to
reconnecting this nation into what it started as in 1776.

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Works Cited
Goodale, James. "WikiLeaks's Prosecution Would Imperil Freedom of the Press." Wikileaks. Ed.
Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "WikiLeaks
Probe: Pentagon Papers Injustice dj vu." 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web.
23 Oct. 2016.
Harding, Luke. The Snowden Files: The inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. New
York: Vintage, 2014. Print.

LaFranchi, Howard. "Clinton's WikiLeaks alchemy: Can she turn outrage into unity on Iran?."

Christian Science Monitor 03 Dec. 2010: N.PAG. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23
Oct. 2016.

MacMillan, Margaret. "Cable news: What is WikiLeaks Really Trying to Tell Us? We Asked
Eminent Historians and Ambassadors to Take the Long View on These Startling
Documents, Starting With a Short History of Secrecy." Foreign Policy 185 (2011): 99+.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Moses, Paul. "Collateral damage." Commonweal 137.19 (2010): 4. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.

Perlstein, Rick. "Dirty Work." Esquire 166.3 (2016): 53-60. Academic Search Complete.

Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

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PoKempner, Dinah. "Privacy in the Age of Surveillance." 2014. Rpt. in Privacy. Ed. Nol
Merino. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Thiessen, Marc A. "WikiLeaks Is an Unprecedented Threat to US National Security." Hacking
and Hackers. Ed. Margaret Haerens and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2014.
Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "You're Either with Us, or You're with WikiLeaks."
Washington Post 7 Dec. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Wittes, Benjamin. "In Snowden we trust? Never: self-appointed crusaders, no matter how clever
or articulate, must never get to decide which secrets our government can keep." Hoover
Digest 4 (2014): 91+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.
Wu, Tim. "The First Amendment Enables Journalists to Publish Unpopular Truths." Media
Ethics. Ed. Nol Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Current Controversies. Rpt.
from "Drop the Case Against Assange." Foreign Policy (4 Feb. 2011). Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.