NOT EXACTLY CHURCHILLIAN – AT 8:35 A.M. ET:  The ethical question arises:  Should we use material from WikiLeaks, knowing that it has been illegally obtained, and that some of it is damaging to the United States?

The answer, it seems to me, is that material should be used, on a very limited and careful basis, if it helps to illuminate a situation, and perhaps prevent a further tragedy.  But we are looking at the revelations on a case by case basis, while still deeply opposing what WikiLeaks did, and urging prosecution of those involved.

The legal expression is "fruit of the poisonous tree."  Evidence presented in an American legal case is often thrown out if it was illegally obtained, if it was the "fruit of the poisonous tree."  Many judicial scholars, including the late Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo, were skeptical of the concept, wondering why justice should be denied, say, the victim of a crime, because the constable made a mistake. 

WikiLeaks is the poisonous tree.  But there may be circumstances where exposing the poison may do some good.  One such case arises this morning, as reported by Fox News:

The British government feared a furious Libyan reaction if the convicted Lockerbie bomber wasn't set free and expressed relief when they learned that he would be released on compassionate grounds, leaked U.S. diplomatic cables show.

A cache of cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli describes the run-up to the decision to free Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, a former Libyan agent whose freedom on Aug. 20, 2009, sparked jubilation in Libya but roiled relations between London and Washington.

Critics of the decision on both sides of the Atlantic have alleged that British officials were motivated by commercial interests -- including those of energy company BP PLC -- when they moved to free al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the 1988 attack on Pan Am Flight 103.

While officials here have always stressed that the 58-year-old al-Megrahi was released because he suffers from terminal prostate cancer, the cables show the Brits were keenly aware that they faced a hugely damaging backlash if they didn't do as the Libyans wanted.

COMMENT:  I can't imagine Churchill just caving like that.  The revelations are frightening for they expose the chronic tendency of some in the UK and Europe to think like diplomats of the 1930s, making one more concession just to get by. 

We recently learned, again from these leaked cables, that Washington is having a terrible time getting Mideast countries to stop funding terrorists.  Again, the terrorists practice terror – no doubt threatening governments if they don't write the checks, or look the other way while others write them.

Our struggle against terror is fragile, and will go on for decades.  We fought a Cold War for decades, and came out victorious.  This struggle, against an extremist enemy, may be more difficult, especially as terror groups begin to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Actions like releasing the Lockerbie bomber only give aid and comfort to our enemies.

December 8, 2010