To the Point
WikiLeaks and the War in Afghanistan
WikiLeaks has created a firestorm by giving 92,000 secret documents to three influential newspapers before releasing them on the Internet. Do they contain anything new? Will they alter public perceptions of the war in Afghanistan or change public policy. Also, massive losses for BP in the oily wake of the Gulf spill. On Reporter's Notebook, is the filibuster being mis-used in the US Senate?
By Warren Olney • • 50m ListenWikiLeaks has created a firestorm by giving 92,000 secret documents to three influential newspapers before releasing them on the Internet. Do they contain anything new? Will they alter public perceptions of the war in Afghanistan or change public policy. Also, massive losses for BP in the oily wake of the Gulf spill, and the filibuster has gone from a tactic of last resort in the US Senate to a routine strategy for obstructing majority rule. Is that what the Framers intended?
Banner image: Australian founder of whistle-blowing website, WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, holds up a copy of yesterday's Guardian newspaper during a press conference in London on July 26, 2010. Photo: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
In this episode
3 storiesMassive Loss for BP in Oily Wake of Gulf Spill
BP has announced a record loss of $17 billion, set aside $32 billion to pay for costs related to the Gulf oil spill and replaced CEO Tony Hayward with Robert Dudley, the first American to had Britain’s largest oil company. Julia Werdigier reports from London for the New York Times .
Read the story7 minWikiLeaks and the War in Afghanistan
The White House, the Pentagon, national security think-tanks and some reporters say all those formerly secret documents released by WikiLeaks don’t contain anything new . But civilian casualties, Afghan corruption and Pakistan’s mixed loyalties are not what the American people have heard about from two presidents and their military commanders.
Read the story32 minFilibuster Overkill
The filibuster once was a tool of last resort in the US Senate, when a minority felt it was subject to tyranny by the majority.
Read the story11 min
