By Roy Smith

There are times when I strongly believe that all soldiers should think about and recall the memories of their past.  Though such memories can be either painful or joyous, for me I am always grateful that I have a future. During the moments when I remember my past as a soldier I think about all the people I have helped. Sometimes that help was simply delivering food to a hungry village and sometimes it was fighting in that same village to prevent its continued control by Taliban or militia or even a rival warlord.

            During those times there were always local people from the country or area we were in who were willing to stand up and help me and my brethren make that area safe. Well, at least safe enough.  Those people who helped us were in fact helping themselves. They were taking the opportunity to make their lives better and they saw our military as a way to make that happen. 

            Yes, there were informants and less savory people who we did business with to complete our missions and goals.  There have always been people who try and profit from war and hardship. It has been done since ancient times before there were countries and nation states and kingdoms and it will continue until there is no more war in the world. Don’t see that happening anytime soon so until then people like me who are asked to secure a country and then begin the nation-building process will always have to deal with such people.  However, I did the job I was asked to do for over 20 years and I can testify that most of the people who helped our military in Iraq and Afghanistan to rebuild their country are good, hard working people who want nothing more than to be safe and not have their families go hungry.

            Sadly, there now could be hundreds of people and their families who cooperated with the US military in Afghanistan whose future is not looking as bright now that their names and participation were compromised over the internet by WikiLeaks. Now, their future will remain uncertain for the rest of their lives. The publication of their names contained in thousands of documents, in my opinion, is unforgivable and borders on wanton disregard for human life or at the very least hints at a level of ignorance that borders on stupid. Before anyone accuses me of being a communist or a socialist let me say this. I believe in freedom of the press.

            History shows the need for independent criticism of governments and its policies as a safeguard against oppression and tyranny.  That is the role that the media plays. But, how does the release of ordinary people’s names who will now never live in safety again further the cause of a free and open press?  They will never live in safety due to the country, cultural, social, and religious environment they find themselves.  An environment which not only authorizes revenge killings but praises them because their perverted religious beliefs assert that it is the will of God.

            So much of the time good journalistic sources hint at a piece of information but do not disclose its source. Often information is held back when the consequences of releasing the information may be too severe.  That is the state of current journalism.  They weigh the possible harm they could cause with the value of the story itself.  Not so, evidently for the organization known as WikiLeaks.  I am sure some would call them an independent media not to be held accountable in the same manner as more mainstream media outlets. Some would even say organizations like WikiLeaks are unheralded mavericks or modern media equivalents to robin hood, bringing to light the wrongs of the world that the mainstream media won’t touch.  Maybe, I am no expert on the issue.

            I don’t presume to know WikiLeaks’ true intentions behind releasing all the information. Whatever the reason behind it, I don’t agree with the release of innocent people’s names and I don’t support putting their lives in danger.  The rest of it I don’t care too much for either as it paints my country in a bad light but as I stated before, I support a free and open press.  I do recognize the duty of media organizations to report on such things even if it doesn’t always reflect well on my country. However, when does the freedom of the press compromise the freedom of a country’s individual citizens?

            The danger to those people is real and the resources needed to protect them are simply not there.  I truly wonder if the people at WikiLeaks grasp what they have done to those people or if they are simply caught up in the frenzy of publicity they are receiving.    

            Wikileaks and other “whistle-blowing” organizations should think about the power they have before considering something like this again. I call on them to review the documents before they release them and to take out the names of the innocent.  This is not about filtering information, it is about protecting lives. If any harm were to come to those civilians who have made an effort to help us I would hope that the same priciples governing the release of the documents would also lead to exposure and accountability of  the Wikileaks organization. It would be just the right amount of irony IF we weren’t talking about people’s lives.