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The Wikileaks release of internal, often secret, diplomatic cables is a major setback for the U.S. State Department. American officials are trying to downplay it and mend fences. Those fences need urgent mending.
What was leaked?
American diplomats at foreign embassies issue cables. These are internal notes meant to advise officials at the embassy, the State Department in Washington and, ultimately, the president of the United States.
Diplomats are encouraged to write cables. If they don’t write them, they get a reputation for being lazy. If a diplomat has a particularly interesting meeting with a foreign politician, political analyst or even a well-connected journalist, he or she might write a cable.
Diplomats will also write cables to brief officials before an upcoming visit. If the American secretary of state is visiting Lebanon to meet the foreign minister, diplomats in Beirut will prepare a cable in advance to describe what to expect and include private information and analysis about the parties involved in the meetings.
It was these cables that were stolen and posted by WikiLeaks. It is a serious blow to the State Department’s information gathering system.
In journalism, we’d call what is happening “burning a source.” If I interview someone, and that source gives me information “off to the record,” context that I am supposed to know, but asked not to report, and I publish it, I burn the source. If I publish the information and include the source’s name, I really burn the source, I flambé him.
Journalists will burn a source if they can’t contain themselves, usually because they think the story is so good, so juicy, that it will win them kudos and awards, or if they think what they have learned is of such national importance that it needs to be made public.
If you burn a source, the assumption is that the source will never work with you again, and will bad-mouth you to other sources. These are the unwritten rules of the game.
Wikileaks just flambéed many of the State Department best sources.
Far worse than past leaks
The last WikiLeaks document dump was of military correspondence from Iraq.
Those documents were short bursts of information, most of them in military acronyms. It was essentially a long list of tactical information and witness reports. It was like a giant police blotter of events, a shotgun blast of mostly bad news, field reports of bombings, explosions and shootings. The military was (and remains) furious because the data was stolen from a classified system.
The leak of the diplomatic cables is far worse. The cables discuss on-going policy and conversations with major, usually sensitive, powerful and occasionally vain, world leaders. They are also written in clear English, not military bullet points, and at times were sprinkled with sarcasm and irony.
One cable included a colorful description of the Kazakh defense minister.
“Kazakhstan’s political elites also have recreational tastes that are not so exotic. Some, in fact, prefer to relax the old-fashioned way. Defense Minister Akhmetov, a self-proclaimed workaholic, appears to enjoy loosening up in the tried and true ‘homo sovieticus’ style – i.e., drinking oneself into a stupor.”
Another took a swipe at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Khalid bin Faisal, Governor of Asir. Prince Khalid is “known for being extremely cheap.”
Another cable described Saudi King Abdullah as having little faith in the Iraqi and Pakistani presidents. The cable may also foreshadow the Saudi reaction to the WikiLeaks scandal.
“Once the king has lost trust in a counterpart, as has been the case with Nouri Al-Maliki or Asif Zardari, his personal antipathy can become a serious obstacle to bilateral relations.”
The cable described the Saudi king as particularly suspicious of Iran: “(King Abdullah) described Iran as ‘adventurous in the negative sense,’ and declared ‘may God prevent us from falling victim to their evil’…Summarizing his history with Iran, Abdullah concluded: ‘We have had correct relations over the years, but the bottom line is that they cannot be trusted.’”
It is a powerful exchange, and one the Saudi king undoubtedly expected would remain private. In the Middle East trust takes a long time to build and once it is lost, is difficult to regain.
Why it hurts
Foreign diplomats already have a hard enough time gathering information. In many cities there are two diplomatic communities: the Americans and everyone else.
I’ve seen this play out countless times from Baghdad to Kabul, Beirut to Cairo. If a French, Spanish or Polish diplomat for example wants to meet a politician or author, the two go to a restaurant or a private home, have a few drinks, and discuss whatever the subject may be.
America embassies, however, these days are generally like little (or sometimes really big) fortresses. Security restrictions on American diplomats often make it difficult for them to mingle, especially in cities where the threat of terrorism or kidnapping is considered high.
To travel, American diplomats often have to fill out travel requests, sometimes days in advance, to schedule a meeting and set up a security escort. To make it easier, American diplomats often ask sources to visit them at embassies, which can be inconvenient (going through checkpoints, metal detectors, leaving mobile phones outside) and demeaning, if officials feel they are being summoned.
Now, however, there may be a major change. Sources might ask themselves, why bother? Why go through all the effort to meet with the Americans if they can’t keep a secret?
In many counties, officials and analysts don’t want their peers, and certainly not the general public, to know they meet with American embassy officials. People who were on the fence already, not sure if they should go in and advise an American diplomat, could determine that it’s simply not worth the risk.
“None of us are at all happy about it,” a senior American diplomat said to me about the leaks.
“It will certainly setback efforts to build relations of confidence with foreign officials and influential actors.”
More from Richard Engel on Wikileaks: A tool for terrorists and criminals? and WikiLeaks' Iraq files: 400,000 insights into war
The who, what and why of WikiLeaks
Revealed: U.S. diplomats slam world leaders
Click here for complete coverage of WikiLeaks
Leave a Comment:
The is high treason and all people involved with WikiLeaks should be tried and executed without further delay. They are a threat to our country and it is time to put an end to the threat
No, this is not high treason or any other kind of treason. They aren't US citizens and aren't bound by the same rules as we are. Yes, it hurts the country, but that is what this administration wants. That's why they've been sitting by, idle on their butts, while this happens. It's been part of an all too apparent pattern. He's ecstatic that the US standing in the world is further diminished.
CORRECT !!! A+ witchrunner
The soldier committed treason, Wikileaks is more in line with buying intel. Unless you have proof that the current administration wants the U.S. to fall apart, which you don't, you just look ignorant claiming that.
SIMP-ilton - what else would this prancing little fruad of a presidents actions indicate?
well, what would you have the president do under this sort of situation?
seems like something at least could be attempted through the world courts or even the u.n. - there are alot of other nations unhappy about this. The presidents apperant lack of action (Ill say apperant to give him the benfit of the doubt) -maybe he has attempted something - but it just dosnt seem that there is any urgency on the part of the w.h.
YOU should be tried and executed without delay. After all, you don't apparently believe in charges, trial by jury, etc, do you? YOU are the enemy within. Hey, how about the fact that WikiLeaks PROVED the U.S. knows Saudi Arabia is supporting the terrorists who are killing our guys? That IS grounds for arresting, trying and possibly executing those guilty of hiding this information and allowing our brave men and women to be killed. The law says SAUDI ARABIA IS A TERRORIST NATION but you and jackasses like you ignore that little point. The traitor is Obama, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, etc. not WikiLeaks. I'm proposing WikiLeaks for the Nobel Peace Prize!
First, the Director of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is Australian and not subject to American law.
Second, WikiLeaks is an 'International Media Organization' once again not subject to American law.
Third, WikiLeaks has been around since January 2007 (but since at the time they were releasing information on the Chinese, Soviet Union, Eastern Europe all the 'red blooded Americans' didn't know about them).
The only thing the President, and the United States, can do is declare Assange 'Persona Non-Gratus' denying him entry to the United States and arrest anyone releasing confidential material to WikiLeaks. So all the 'chest pounding' calls for 'immediate execution' are nothing more than the typical response of uneducated Americans who still believe that America is the 'Protector of the World'.
What Wikileaks did is not some Obamaism or he is trying to bring down the standing of the US in the world community. That is just plain stupid and those claiming such idiocy and hide behind some blog name are worms. The big problem with what Wikileaks did was now every government agency is going to close the door on all information. Big strides had been made to open information to the public that was not a security risk and now Wikileaks has brought the country back to the days of Nixon. They may have made some big coup with this one act, but in the long run it will make a transparent government harder to find. Wikileaks founder Assange is walking around like he did some great service to a more open world. It is a shame, he is so near-sighted. Who knows what will come of the information in this leak, but it is old news already. And anything from now on will be hid behind walls of security. Even information that is not of any national security risk will be unavailable to the public. Assange is a short sighted opportunist. Nothing more.
JVSimp: Actually, a lot of people will agree with me. The "proof" is in everything he has been doing. All you need to do is look at his statements and then look at what he has been doing and it is clear. He pledged to "transform" America and to transfer wealth. He was even so "*****" (use your own words) as to proclaim that "whether we like it or not, America is still a world power." Who in their right mind who lives in America does not want America to be the great power of the world? With the power comes the ability to determine your own destiny. Anything wrong with that?
The Obamacare is destined to be the destruction of the world's greatest health care system. Just look at all the "exemptions" the administration issued before the elections so that the real effect of driving people out of private health care would not be felt before the elections. Add to that the taxation of air that the administration has proposed, the refusal of the administration to offer anything but a debt busting budget, the take over of auto companies, the "stimulus" package that stimulated nothing, etc. The list goes on and on.
Now, if you think that we need a transformation into a mediocre socialist society, then I suppose you think all of this is just great. But, most people are sick of it and that is why the repubs made major gains. Hopefully they follow through with their mandate. But, admittedly hearing comments of some supposed Tea Party leaders in Congress, this may not be the case. But, we will keep trying until they decide to listen.
witchrunner - you are wrong. The leaked materials were almost certainly stolen by an American citizen and given to foreign sources. This person, since it was restricted material in classified and secured computer files, absolutely knew what he was doing. He/she should be tried for treason, and if convicted should face the most stringent application of the penalty.
Those outside the U.S., while not commiting treason, have brought death for U.S. citizens and other. They deserve death also.
Chuck: not sure what you think I'm wrong about. Of course the info was stolen by someone who most likely was an American citizen and given to someone outside the US. My comments had nothing to do with disputing this. What I did point out is that this administration isn't upset about this really. JV wanted proof that this administration, and this President in particular wants this country to fall apart. Nothing I said is wrong. I stand by the fact that when one looks objectively at the complete Obama as President, one has to conclude, if one is logical, that he is one who did not like the country that he lived in and wants to make it into something completely different, that is totally foreign to those of us who grew up here. He is not comfortable with us being the greatest nation on earth or with us being the place where people go who want freedom. So, from that standpoint, yes, he wants to destroy the country and that is why he has done everything he could as fast as he could. He's not concerned with getting re-elected. If he is, then great, he'll be given 4 more years to work his destruction. But, if not, then he at least put in place the building blocks for it's destruction with things like Obamacare and "cap and tax," if he's successful, and the list goes on. That's why he has consistently lied about being concerned about the deficit. He knows that the higher he gets it, the harder it will be for the country to recover. So, yes, consistent with everything we know about him, he is most likely ecstatic that US credibility has been undermined by the leaks. To date I've seen more concern from the libs in Washington about the climategate leaks than about these leaks. Remember the dems calling for a Congressional investigation into the leaks that exposed the fraud of global warming? Not much heard so far regarding Wikileaks.
  Wikileaks is not a terrorist organization as Sarah Palin and Peter King contend, they are new school spies and can be dealt with under existing law. - http://goo.gl/fb/duYR8
Humm Palin and King LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 2 of the biggest Jokes alive.
Since the US can no longer use diplomacy because of WikiLeaks, that leaves very few options.
If you can't practice diplomacy then you must practice war.
North Korea, Iran, Lebanon, Syria will all provide great opportunites for the practice of diplomacy or for the practice of war in the very near future.
You can tell whether or not a tree is evil by the fruit that it produces.
Dear IMJ3,
Shall we assume that you are ready to volunteer either yourself and/or your children to fight these new wars? Are you also ready to pay additional taxes to fund them? Or are you, like most conservatives, ready to fight only with other people's children and other people's money?
Finally - someone with a clue!!! Where are all of the posters who advocated, "transparency", "truth shall set us free", " people have the right to know", there are no secrets (???) in a democracy, that were posting in droves yesterday? Obviously, they were not aware that wars and conflicts can be and have been avoided through diplomacy. Wikileaks' possession and release of confidential information undermines the abililty of the US State Dept. to assess global situations, thus limiting our nation's alternatives and destroying our credibility! Defined as terrorism ? No, just business as usual in espionage and the constant struggle to get the upper hand!
The murder by proxy is by the U.S., since WikiLeaks revealed that Saudi Arabia is funding terrorist activity in Iraq and Afghanistan. WikiLeaks is the hero, and OUR government is the murderer.
That's not news.We knew the Saudis were funding Bin Laden 9 years ago.Or at least some of them.Like his family.
Wikileaks is releasing documents on some US banks next.Now we're talking about some serious crime and terrorism.
That'll get him whacked!
Really? Wikileaks is just doing their job. This isn't the fault of them or the person who leaked the information...
"If you don't have anythjing nice to say, don't say anything at all." is a saying that was completely ignored by the people writing these cables. They are supposed to be diplomats, so why weren't they being diplomatic? If the information was sensitive, it could have waited till they were back in the US to give the information.
This is just a horrific example of people playing the blame game to keep their own butts out of the fire.
Just another blow to the Americans from now on be very careful of where u go and who u talk to.
Wiki don't care about the safety of the world and especially America. These infos are just arming the enemies wake up people stop being your own WORST ENEMY.
Am I alone in wondering why Wikileaks only gets USA classified documents to leak? Why don't they get China documents? Or North Korean documents? How about Russian documents? Iranian documents? Turkministan? Usbekistan? Maybe France? Or how about England? Canada? Israel? Are these other countries just that much better at security than we are?
maybe because at least some of the nations you named have strong , competant leaders with a bit of self preservation and machavellian sensabilities and would send a hit squad to deal with wikileaks. All the world knows b.o. is a weakling and will do absolutlely nothing
I just came from another story on the Wiki-leaks and there were no calls for killing the messenger. The reason? The story was of Karzai's pardoning political supporters who were dealing heroin big-time and of his releasing former Guantanamo inmates despite agreements with the US to prosecute them. Two of them have since emerged as leaders of Taliban groups.
Why is it so hard to understand that we, as citizens, need this information in order to question our elected officials? We're blowing billions of dollars down a rat-hole and sacrificing our young for the sake of what? Diplomacy? Nah, call it by its true names, deception, corruption and betrayal - not by Wikileaks, by our Gov't!
Your suggestion for doing better and your stepping forward to support our country, not just racial baiting and radical right wing sour grapes.
to witchrunner - What rubbish, the President does not control the State Department directly, there is a Secretary of State, and in no way did the President or anyone else in the administration allow this to happen. It was a traiterous act by someone in army intelligence who had access to a lot of things that he obviously shouldn't have. Really, it's all a tempest in a teapot, just a bit embarassing. Foreign diplomats are saying all kinds of things about us, too. They just haven't had the bad luck to be published...
actually carolin - the president DOES control the state dept - or should in the real world. but at the moment the S.O.S. is much stronger then our weak sister president
Any Americans involved in hacking into government computers, stealing classified information and providing it to Wiki Leaks needs to caught and tried on treason, theft and hacking charges.
Any non-americans involved need to be charged with aiding and abetting a criminal, hacking, international spying, theft, receipt and processing of stolen property.
Assange needs to be charged with running an international spy ring, hacking, handling and processing of stolen property and of course rape.
That sexual charge was fabricated to get him on false motives. And he probably will be caught for some sort of crime or another...not the rape charge that was stupid and weak. But he'll get caught; he's already hiding all over the world. I'm not saying I want the guy to get caught; actually, I rather admire him. He's bold as @!$%#, arrogantly defying of authority and very smart, just my kind of person.
Spy VS Spy.
it was never a rape charge, it is a charge of aggregated sexual assault, (one were the condom broke and he did not stop to put on a new, and one for not using a condom at all, there for consensual sex became aggregated sexual assault ) all well documented in the Swedish press.
Oh whatever let Assange move to Honduras or something and never be heard from again.
Is there any possibility that this will cause harm to our integrity as a nation, or is it too late for that after 8 years of Bush and Cheney?
Don't speak what you don't want heard. Don't write what you don't want read. This is exactly what every politician does come election time. They dig up as much dirt as they can on their opponent, while painting themselves as saints. We all beg for honesty, transparency, and representation and now we are being given a great insight to just what we got with our vote, dishonesty, distortion, and misrepresentation. I for one applaud Julian Assange. He's not slandering nor distorting what he has found. He's not playing one against another, and he's sharing equally with all. If we're not happy with what we see and hear, then maybe it's time to put our vote and our money where our mind and our mouth is, and elect people who we feel confident will represent us, not just at home but also abroad. Clearly we don't have that now.
If your ideas hold true then why not post a video camera in your bedroom, why not in a dressing room or a coffee shop. Why not have everyone's deepest thoughts or "private" conversations made public? I think evey country has the right to privacy when discussing one person's or another's idea about a foreign leader. What this idiot did was expose one country's private conversations. My question is why doesn't he do the same for his own country? I would assume Australia has the same type of "confidential" information as does every country. His goal is to embarass the United States and inflict harm on OUR country. There's no honor in that!
Why aren't the news media, like this dude, Richard Engle, talking about the most important Wikileak revelation? That being that the U.S. KNOWS without a doubt that Saudi Arabia is supporting the Taliban and the insurgency in Iraq? By law, Saudi Arabia should be put on the terrorist list and blacklisted like Iran, etc. When a media jackass like this refrains from talking about people who are killing OUR SOLDIERS then it proves we need WIKILEAKS even more, and proves the author to be full of @!$%#! Shame on Richard Engle and YEAH for WIKILEAKS!
This guy should be treated as a spy, a particularly vicious spy who isn't collecting data for his superiors but rather collecting data to destroy (in his mind) a country. I for one, would like to see this guy "disappear".
The only thing I have to say to Jullian is "see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya" His azz is grass. The idiot hates the USA, Duh; His partner in crime Manning, should be tried today. But I've said this before, "all secrets shall be shouted upon the roof tops;" KJV: So according to this prophecy, this leak was inevitable, but there is also another passage that goes with this, and it states, " even though the son of man must be betrayed, woe unto the one who betrays him, it is better that a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea." KJV. Everyone who is so proud of these blabbers, should erect a memorial unto their names. Many have given their lives and limbs to keep these secrets, secret.
Maybe with Wikileaks heroic release of the so-called "diplomatic" cables (used by the US to destabilize large numbers of nations via double-dealing, manipulation, abuse, coercion, espionage, etc) we'll get some information on another U.S. spy (yes, I am implying by writing "another" that many of these "State Department" cables are intelligence cables written by US intelligence personnel under cover of State).
I am referring to Alan Gross, a US "contractor" in prison in Cuba for the last year on espionage charges. Here is some information on Gross that one does not need Wikileaks to put together. And because I have put it together, am I a terrorist? Are the internet sources - open sources - threats to so-called "national security"? Are we in a state of war warranting shutting done civil society? Or are we in an early stage of fascism? I recommend you watch the movie "V for Vendetta" as soon as possible and then answer the question.
Alan Gross is no poor guy, no stupid guy, no naive guy, etc. as media reports and commentators like to suggest. Neither in the financial sense nor the ideological sense nor the naivete sense.
Gross is federal contractor, with his own companies
JBDC, Inc. http://www.fedvendor.com/contractor/CRR00000000000082859/profile.htm
APGross, Inc. http://www.fedvendor.com/contractor/PRE00000000001220163/profile.htm.
You'll note on the first one the NAICS Code [517410] Satellite Telecommunications.
Gross & Company have been all over the world (more than 50 countries) distributing these satellite phones. His company website, www.apgross.com, no longer functions, though here is a cached image of the page
http://www.galaxy.com/rvw44112-245503/A_P_Gross_Company_Inc_Economic_and_Business_Development.htm
His JBDC, Inc. website at www.jbdc.org, is also down, though if you go to it from its link at http://www.volunteersforprosperity.gov/busorg/profiles/joint-business-development-center.htm you get redirected briefly by a USAID page (no doubt that will be corrected shortly) which then sends you to a page stating the JBDC site no longer works either.
As Saul Landau wrote in his piece, The Alan Gross Case, (quote) Alan Gross had previously set up satellite communications systems to circumvent state-controlled channels in Iraq and Afghanistan. (end quote) Gross is a professional operating globally, like DAI which operates in all the conflict zones of the world, in particular those where the US attempts to impose its will. Look at DAI's website and the sections on subcontracting, careers, contracts, etc. http://www.dai.com/
This is not some do-good outfit and Alan Gross was no innocent, naive, poor guy. He is and was involved in US schemes to subvert governments and manipulate the geo-political landscape of sovereign nations. He knew the game, the risks, and was not, in the end, up to the task. He got caught. We always try to bring our spies home and part of that game is denial, sob stories about the wife, etc.
For further info, Google: Hondurasoye sneaky detained contractor. Also Google: along the malecon Jan 12. Also Google: along the malecon Jan 13.
Conclusion: Alan Gross -- Not naive, not stupid, not poor. Alan Gross is in prison because he was caught in the course of his professional, career activities in a sovereign country with which the US is at war (i.e., our illegal 48 year old economic embargo against Cuba which is condemned year after year by 187 nations in the UN with only Israel and the US voting in favor of it).
We either are or we are not in a state of permanent war with the world. If we are, the world needs to know that so that they can act in a concerted way to deal with us and the people of the US need to decide whether or not we are willing to spend both the resources and human lives for this ruling class war on the world. In that sense, the Wikileaks information is essential. And if we are not in a permanent state of war with the world, then why are we conducting ourselves as we are at immense cost to our nation, reputations, and our future. In addition, our "friends" need to ask themselves whether or not it is really in their interests to deal with us while we are conspiring against them, trashing them, seeking unfair advantage, etc.
Wikileaks is a courageous, noble, and essential effort.
David Brookbank
Assange goal: Blind America so we don't see what's coming.
Diplomats are crippled now.
Too true, hey wait a minute did he break any Australian laws?
Dont mean to burst your bubble guys, but its not espionage if its considered whistleblowing. Theres a huge difference. Wikileaks doesnt just report on the US either. So its not just an attack on the US like you guys want to think it is.
If the US is resorting to dishonest or immoral tactics that get revealed.... then its not espionage, its whistleblowing. If the US wasnt doing anything wrong or immoral and it got revealed, then it would be espionage.
Problem is, the US has being doing some backroom stuff that it shouldnt really be doing and those people got caught redhanded. Just admit it. US state department along with alot of other governments, agencies and companies got one uped by a whistleblower who timed and planned everything out accordingly.
You just dont like it. Thats all. Will it suck for us? yeah it will. Will we get over it. Yeah. How do we stop this from happening again? You can't... the only thing that stops it is by not doing anything that would have to worry about being revealed in a bad way.
Perhaps we should have america operate differently, and not get pissed off when we are caught doing something wrong.
So what did we learn? that we shouln't be talking @!$%# about other people behind their backs because it might come and bite us in the ass! IF the US were to be an honest nation with honest people this wouln't happen. But of course you have to go and order espionage and talk @!$%# about other countries.
Too late, too much to lose, too deeply engaged: It's a game, played by the big boys, not for the squeamish or faint of heart. The stakes are extremely high, and they play for keeps. Nations are jockeying for position. Assange may have only tilted the tables in favor of whomever he, for whatever the reason, has deemed deserving of this act. Personally I still believe he despises Americans. I find it hard to believe this is some noble act on his or Manning's part. these two guys must have gonads of steel, Manning could be excuted, Assange, Percuted and hounded. Was it worth it?
Wikileaks is no hero. Assange is no angel. He's not exposing this stuff because it reveals things needing to be fixed, or corruption needing to be taken care of. He's doing it to grab headlines. He basks in his new celebrity status and his chance to play the White Knight. Read the interviews with the other Wikileaks staff and see just how arrogant and important this guy acts. He announces his upcoming "releases" weeks in advance, just to build the suspense. He claimed Wikileaks was under a major DDoS attack yet every single time I attempted to go to the site in the last 4 days it popped right up without a hitch.
The author of this article nailed it perfectly. Would you email something sensitive to someone else if you knew that when you did, the rest of the world gets to read it too? And for the idiot poster above, this isn't whistle blowing as you claim. There is nothing illegal in diplomats sending cables back to headquarters. However is was illegal for someone to steal those and send them to Wikileaks.
you are just making that up. You dont know why he does it at all, one way or another.
Making it up? Would you like me to hand feed you the assorted articles from former Wikileaks staff saying the same thing? Or are you able to Google that yourself? For such an amazing whistleblower, show me where the release of these documents raised such a call for action from the furious public that the current or former administrations have been forced to change policy? Actually, show me where the previous document release actually had any new information that wasn't already visible in the public domain. The NY Times even stated that most of the documents covered events that had already been in the news.
The only way to defend this guy and his actions is to cover your eyes and blindly toss out rhetoric. He has done nothing admirable. What he did was create a circus with himself positioned as the ring leader.
Im not defending his actions... But Im also not going to assume that your assumed facts about him are correct either. That means theres no proof on whether or not hes a protagonist at heart or an antagonist.
Get me now? You dont know if the guy is good or evil.
Im not saying hes good. Arguing about how you dont think hes good isnt going to win some argument. No one disputes the fact that he might not be good. But you seem to think hes automatically bad. You have no proof of that. So shut up
You just made my point for me when I stated "The only way to defend this guy and his actions is to cover your eyes and blindly toss out rhetoric". Please, don't bother to reply again if the only thing you can come up with is the same as what 4 year olds do when they get upset.
This whole thing sounds fishy. How is it that the most sophisticated gov't agency in the world has teenagers in uniform downloading important goverment secrets by pretending to be listening to Lady GaGa? There is more going on here than we are being told.
I think we first have to address the issue as to why US officials are talking in circles, especially when it comes to foreign relations. Let's make this comparison: I'm in my 6th grade science class where I'm sitting next to two girls that I'm secretly dating. I write a love note to one and pass it along, then that rapscallion Julian Assange comes by and swipes the note off her desk and reads it to the class. Now I have egg on my face.
Have our elected leaders and appointed diplomats been reduced to gossiping teenagers? How about we STOP talking in circles and lay everything out on the table; this wouldn't have a been a problem if we did. If Akhmetov is "drinking himself into a stupor," then raise the issue and work with him and his constituents to rectify the situation. If King Abdullah thinks Iran is "adventurous in the negative sense," let's have a multi-nation sit-down to ease the tensions instead of whispering behind his back.
Even with the Iraq correspondence painting a bleaker picture than military officials release to the public. If the baby is ugly, we need to call it ugly. We can't just paint over the rust and not expect it to fall apart in the near future.
Yes, we've burned bridges and our foreign policy is going to feel the negative consequences for the immediate future, but not forever. There will be a new generation diplomacy and Wikileaks will have left it's mark on the practices of open communication between nations. Even if Assange falls and Wikileaks is taken down, there will be another to follow, and another after that. The cable dumps haven't directly jeopardized any lives; rather put our world leaders in their place - and sometimes pride is a difficult thing to swallow. Our global community must envisage a brighter future as a result. Our children will read about this in their text books as a warning as to what bad politics is capable of and maybe then we can grow into compassionate human beings. I will end this with a lesson that we have all learned in 6th grade: Secrets, secrets are no fun; secrets, secrets hurt someone.
I'm sorry, but you're sounding like you are in the sixth grade.
Trusting that other countries will behave in truthful ways has killed billions of people. In your sixth grade, everyone exposing their own weaknesses only causes laughs and jeers. In the real world, it causes invasions.
Grow up.
zuemer and pc/not!!--The problem with your argument that the US is targeted because we are weak is shortsighted. A big reason we are a target is because of our leadership and we are a democracy. Most of the other countries you mentioned are dictatorships, with no freedom. And especially no freedom of information. This is not because Obama is some weakling. It is hard living in a world that has so many closed countries, but we wish to remain an open and free country even if some of our leader's correspondences are made public. This is not the end of the world. I just hope it doesn't turn this country into one of your "better security" countries.
As one of our country's media "talking heads", I'm not exactly sure what Richard Engel's point is in this article. Is it just soar grapes ? Wikileaks didn't burn any of their sources, our State Department failed to protect theirs. Our Government still can't figure out how Wikileaks even got all this info, as well as their past stories on our military.
Say & feel what you want about Wikileaks - But from journalistic standpoint, the major media outlets in this country should be completely embarrassed ... This Wikileaks group, with a few paid guys, and some added volunteers clearly has gotten several major "scoops" of info, from whomever their sources are, and the US media is left to just comment on it. Richard Engle seems like an upset "Monday morning quarterback".
Does our media even go out anymore looking to actually uncover a story ? or is our medai elite just comfortable sitting back and regergitating the official press releases & "interpreting" the news they think we want to hear to suit their own political agendas? I guess the later still sells news papers, and ads on the web ... so perhaps it's nieve of me to imagine they aren't satisfied.
I'm inclined to keep reading whatever Wikileaks keeps releasing - the upcoming banking story will probably reveal more on what really happened inside the financial mess, then any of our media sources have told us the past three years .... Where have they been ? It's the first time in a long while that i've been able to read some "news" unedited, and reach whatever conclusions I'm inclined to about our friends or enemies - thanks for the facts, baby ... thanks for the facts ....
Refreshing .....
appears to be Our Embassies are Large, built and handled like Fortresses..that's why We Stand Out Like Sore thumbs..Our diplomats Cannot be Comfortable about any situation with all the hoopla..as for Julian, he's merely a media informer, secrets or not..As in past, We have again, and again stuck our foot some where it doesn't belong..We are a Young Country with high ambitions and We have made lots of mistakes..Our State Dept. needs to Think things out before making rapid decisions..the Middle East population has grown so rapidly that they too have, too many rods in the fire or too many kinks in the hose..World Wide Problems are Enormous..it's time to think different in high positions........