Arthur Hulnick, a 35-year veteran of the intelligence profession, mostly with the CIA. Contact 617-353-8978, ahulnick@bu.edu

“These leaks are as dangerous to the U.S. as a terrorist attack, and the people who stole this material ought to be tracked down just like someone from Al Qaeda. The FBI should have been on top of this after the first series of leaks from WikiLeaks. Other countries will be reluctant to share intelligence with us, and diplomats will wonder why the U.S. can’t keep secrets. The press cannot be faulted for publishing, but someone in government ought to be found and punished.”

William Keylor, author of “A World of Nations: The International Order Since 1945″; Contact 617-358-0197, wrkeylor@bu.edu

“If the ‘cable traffic’ between American ambassadors abroad and the State Department is accessible to any disgruntled PFC in the U.S. Army, then why the expressions of shock and outrage that it finds its way to the public? If the U.S. government is unable to devise a reliable communication system that will ensure the diplomatic cables are read only by the restricted list of intended recipients, then we can expect a full and continuous publication of all such messages. It is difficult to imagine how diplomacy can be conducted in such an environment.”

Michael Corgan, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who taught there and a specialist in international security with extensive service in political and military planning (especially NATO). Contact 617-353-3553, mcorgan@bu.edu.

“Mr. Assange has taken away secrecy and we and perhaps the world will surely suffer for that. WikiLeaks, whose founder doesn’t really understand how the U.S. constitutional democracy was meant to work, has ensured that we will not be trusted in our foreign relations efforts for a long time to come. For the ordinary citizen the appropriate question might be, just how many friends do you have that can’t keep a secret?”