Mr Rudd and WikiLeaks
Re: Mr Rudd’s justification for his condemnation of the release of classified diplomatic information.
It would be superficial to respond, as many commentators have, that “he is only protecting his own turf”, “afterall he is a diplomat, of course he would say that”. There is an element of self interest in negative responses from Government and diplomatic sources, however I prefer to look at the essence of his his argument and try to follow the logic.
Mr. Rudd states ” what is at stake here is the essence of how we deal with international problems” and ” diplomacy seeks to solve problems for which there are no other public solutions”. What he fails to address is why this must be done in secret.
If we look at every major political issue confronting the world today or in recent memory one would have to conclude that diplomacy is and has been an abject failure. I suspect that perhaps a more honest, open and public interaction may possibly achieve a marginally better result.
Of course it is easier for Mr Rudd to espouse the populist assertion that it’s better we don’t know.
Robert Sharpe
Double Bay, Sydney
