I think we all understand that the work of even the most decent governments is made more difficult when they cannot be sure their communications will be read by those for whom they were not intended. That said, there is no reason to assume that the United States government is always up to good. To get at the value of WikiLeaks, I think it’s important to distinguish between the government — the temporary, elected authors of national policy — and the state — the permanent bureaucratic and military apparatus superficially but not fully controlled by the reigning government.
— Democracy in America: “In Defence of Wikileaks”
