Who's doing what to whom?

Tuesday – November 30, 2010

Who’s doing what to whom?

In 1782, on this date in Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain signed preliminary peace articles that would end the war for America’s independence from England.

During the Revolutionary War, we fought and we spied. Britain also fought and they also spied. After the war, we became allies and we still spied on each other. We knew the activity was going on and it was mutually respected by both sides. It was respected and it was necessary to keep the peace.

Yesterday, our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton gave a scripted and unemotional response to the leaked State Department documents on Wikileaks. Yesterday, the President said he was freezing the salaries of some 2 million civilian federal employees. That action will save over five billion dollars over five years. He said nothing in response to the Wikileaks episode of leaking sensitive state department files. Yesterday, the Attorney General gave a scripted response, saying that the Justice Department will see if any laws were broken and if they were, he would take the necessary response against Wikileaks and the perpetrators.

If I were a betting man, I would say that Hillary will take the fall. Eric Holder will come up with some legal precedent that will not allow the U.S. to prosecute Julian Asange of Wikileaks and the President will get his wish of Hillary being marginalized. But then, I am not a betting man.

In the days of our revolution, our nation was united. We knew who the enemy was and we knew who was an ally. We didn’t necessarily go out of our way to offend and embarrass each other.
I don’t necessarily live in the days of revolution, but I think there are lessons to be learned. In the days leading up to this administration, there was a felling that the office of the presidency was something to fear or at best something to consider. In the days leading up to this administration, our Secretary of State seemed to have a handle on things. There was respect and there was a feeling of fear. In the days leading up to this administration, there was a feeling that the Attorney General was able to fight a legal question on the merits and the severity of the offense. There was a sense of fear.

In the days of the Revolution, Washington was feared, especially after he crossed the Delaware on Christmas morning in 1776. During the American Revolutionary War, it was the first move in a planned surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey. If you remember, I devoted my FORUM to this last year.

We want a President to show outrage, like George Bush did on that fateful day in New York City when he said, “I here you and those who knocked down these buildings will hear from all of us soon.” This was a seminal moment in the Bush administration and in American history. The President missed his seminal moment yesterday. He had a moment in history when he could have said many things, but didn’t. China has blocked Wikileaks via a firewall and other countries have now taken action to cover their tracks as well. Julian Asange is still alive, but cannot be found to answer for his actions.

The material that was leaked jeopardizes many relationships. The material that was leaked demonstrates the fundamental problem of this administration. They are naive and are not ready for prime time. They have the scars of battle that now show, because they are not healing. Like the Presidents lip with visible stitches it will leave a scar. Unlike Washington, who led his military across a river in the dark of winter, he came out on the other side victorious and without a scar. He, too, had his seminal moment and recognized that something bold had to be done to save the country.

The leaks that have appeared on Wikileaks have happened on this President’s watch. It has happened on the Secretary of States watch and the Attorney Generals watch. Each one of these people has said, at one time or another, we have to have a shared sacrifice. What we are seeing now is that the sacrifice that is being shared is by us and not the ones who are responsible. But then again, the word responsible seems to roll off their backs and on to us.

Our Foreign Policy is something we should all be aware of. We rely on our elected officials to oversee the efforts of every administration official. George Washington, in his farewell address, spoke about the importance of Foreign Policy and the importance of what strong and even relations would mean to the future success of the country. The breakdown of strong relations begins with the 500,000 people who have daily access to State Department and Governmental records, all of which have varying degrees of clearance. All total there are over three million governmental officials who also have access. Anyone of these people can leak the information that is now in the public domain. However, in this case there was only one a Private in the military.

The President, the Secretary of State and the Attorney General are also three more that could have done this. We know they didn’t, but they are still responsible!
In the days of our Revolution a battle for the heart and soul of the nation was being fought. Secrets were kept and a system was devised to secure information when it was needed. Our enemies now know many secrets and more so - who is doing what to whom!

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: As I see it a simple system works best. Washington knew a strong and fair handed approach to Foreign Policy was essential to the nation’s success. He also knew that information should not be shared with just anyone.