Wikileaks and War Logs
The issue of “Wikileaks and War Logs” can be examined through both the utilitarian approach and the rights approach. This is because the report is about the deaths of a large number of people that took place in a specific country. The utilitarian approach requires that ethically, an action should yield repercussions that cause the least harm while promoting the most good (Morrison, 2009, p. 387). According to Wikileaks.org (2010, p.1), the deaths that occurred in Iraq were 109,032 in number. Out of this number, the number of civilians was 66,081. Whether this information is true or not, it is information that can cause more harm than good. It should be noted that those who died due to the Iraqi War have left behind their family members, who in all likelihood dearly loved them and miss them. As pointed out by Reader (2013, p.6), the leaks were a potential source of unrest in the then unstable Iraqi nation. Security in the country would certainly have been put to the test given that the …show more content…
In this respect, the release of the Iraqi war information by Wikileaks recognized that the people of Iraq and the entire world have the right to know. The Iraqi people especially needed to know how many lives they had lost in the war. However, the American government’s right to privacy of information was breached in the process. There are some pieces of information that are usually treated as confidential by governments and this ought to fall under that category. On top of that, the leaks violated the rights of the affected not to be subjected to any form of injury. The families and friends of those who died during the war may have been subjected to emotional injuries due to the leaks, as they would have been reminded of the agony of losing their loved