Ex-Spy Charged for Leaks to Paper

Bonfire

16 sites for ADF deployment?

Is this current deployments?

Presumably this is over some time? or is this more just training advisers?

Easy, tiger. I’m not in any way advocating removing ourselves from the US alliance. That would be a spectacularly dim idea. As Mr Murdoch said, “Administrations come and go”. I just question our unqualified support for current US foreign policy. I think we have (or had) more to lose by unquestioningly and wholeheartedly involving ourselves in the “War on Terror” than by taking a step back.

mr shab i’ll address this directly.

point please to US interest in the following ADF deployments:

solomon islands,
east timor,
PNG,
bougainville,
Rhodesia,
Namibia,
Western Sahara,
Somalia,
Rwanda,
Mozambique,
Sierra Leone,
the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia,
The Balkans,
Cambodia,
Indonesia
the line of control between India and Pakistan

because id love to knwo how ADF presence in these places is Australia just furthering US interests.

Have you idiots ever anlalysed this green socialist shite that spouts out of a sewer.

when oz and us interests coincide its natural for oz to assist.

we are both western liberal democracies so we have a great deal in common.

and when an ally asks for assistance, its an ida to help them out. you never know when that favour might be called in – and that doesnt always mean those actions are made public.

Morality should not come into the equation considering the unscrupulous values upon which this field of employment is based upon.

Exactly.

Oh, I’ll agree that he’s legally bound not to reveal the information. And that, if necessary, he should go to prison for revealling it.

I just don’t necessarily see that it’s morally wrong. However, if he chooses to be a prisoner of conscience, that’s a decision that has to go all the way, and have all the necessesary consequences that it brings.

Hi Che. I obviously posted the article to gauge everyone’s opinion on the matter (and am expecting to receive some uninspiring remarks).

In any event, this guy signed the same paperwork as any other employee be it at ASIO, ASIS, whatever, which binds him not the release any information outside of those directly relating to his employment. Moral reservations or not, his duty was not to release the information.

I think Maelinar’s critique was more aimed at government policy than at senior defence and intel, bonfire. Public servants are there as the action arm of government policy, and can only be “Yankee lapdogs” if that is what the government of the day’s policy is.

The govenment is there to look after Australia’s interest alright – but I (and it think Maelinar) question the wisdom of aligning our foreign policy so squarely with that of the current US administration and their “for us or agin’ us” stance. I’d be prepared to review that position under another US administration.

maelinar what utter gobshite.

i cut a posting short because i wanted to serve my nations interests first and not anothers.

did i whinge and go the media ?

no – i took appropriate action and happily continued in that profession for another 8 years working collaboratively with second parties.

i think you read too much green left if you think our senior defence and intelligence officials are yankee lapdogs.

they know what our interests are, and what mutual interests are.

i think it was lord balfour who said no nation had permanent allies, only permanent interests.

in areas where there are no mutual interests i rarely saw australian involvement.

now if you think that we have more in common with say the burmese dictators or the chinese one party dictators, or any other regional disfunctional state than with progressed western liberal democracies – then you are smoking crack.

anti-us propaganda mouthing by you and your fellow softheads betrays a deep lack of any real analysis of modern geo-politics.

I’m sure there are times when leaking is justified. If the powers that be have gone right off the rails, then people need to know what really happened eg – children overboard.

yeah I know its roots are tribal – pretty much like most of our behaviour, its not something I am actually that passionate about… I have just always found indentifying myself with the bit of land I live on silly.. is all.

bonfire’s right simto – when you’re a public servant, you are bound not to release any information without permission.

If your moral objection to what is going on is strong enough; resign, take it to the media and face the consequences. That said, I hope I never find myself in the situation where I have to put my money where my mouth is…

The problem with being patriotic in this day and age is that the whim of big brother seems to be followed with the same reverence as a faithful dog with its tongue hanging out of its head lovingly.

Anybody remember the cattle protest and how quickly it was silenced because it was directed at America ? (I’m sure there’s more recent examples as well).

Until Australia starts looking after Australian interests, patriotism is an American word for substitute American values here.

On the flipside, I decided to quit my profession because I had moral qualms about what I was doing, and will continue to abide by my agreed duty to not disclose classified information until the day I die.

I merely disagree that patriotism is the correct word to use in this current socio-politico environment.

and absent diane, im sorry the international soviet brotherhood thing didnt work out, but im happy being a patriot.

simto you are a softhead.

when you work in certain professions you are bound by ethics.

one of them is not to disclose classified and sensitive information.

if you have moral qualms – you get another job. it happens.

you are not elected by anyone to represent anyone. you are not to decide who gets to see what (unless that in your duty statement, and i doubt ‘leak to press’ is in there).

leaking is just plain wrong, and unethical.

wilkie may be a tool, but at least he quit and entered the public arena with his concerns.

Whilst patriotism and borders may well be among the silliest things man created I would rather live in this part of the world and enjoy the benefits of how this geographic space operates then many other places around the world…

On the flip-side simto – by informing the population of his nation he is also informing other nations as well, being what media is today.

He didn’t betray his country – he informed the population of his country what his government was doing.

There is a difference between betraying your country and betraying your government. That’s something politicians and those who defend the particular party in power often have difficulties understanding…

patriotism and borders are amongst the silliest things humans ever came up with, right up there with religion.

if you have moral qualms walk away.

never betray your country.

hope eh rots – but no doubt he will get off.

maybe it would have been better for him to fly to say bangkok or singapore via the US…

“We choose which information will be leaked to the media and the manner in which it will be leaked.”

i guess if you want to whistle-blow in defence you have to resign ala andrew wilkie.

at least he wasn’t giving them as payment to his hooker (hi SL)
and who decides what is a good leak (good budget reports) and what is a bad leak(whistleblowing on the govt)?