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Subscribe to RSSAt Open Channel we're following the continuing release of the first of 251,287 diplomatic messages by WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing website, timed in concert with several news organizations that had early access to the documents so they could begin reporting.
Latest updates are at the top.
Editors at The New York Times are answering questions about the choices they made.
The Guardian tweaks Sarah Palin for turning the WikiLeaks release into a business opportunity: " At last Sarah Palin speaks on the Wikileaks revelations – well, she tweets on the subject. And being Sarah Palin, it's mainly about her: 'Inexplicable: I recently won in court to stop my book America by Heart from being leaked, but US Govt can't stop Wikileaks' treasonous act?'
The Guardian opines: "Well, one is under the jurisdiction of the United States' government and laws, and one isn't. Apart from that, inexplicable. But top marks for using this unlikely subject to plug your own book."
The Guardian also reports on a U.S. ambassador who was shocked by comments by Prince Andrew.
Israel waits
From LA Times: Israel, waiting for the WikiLeaks shoe to drop, still cleaning up past messes
An apology to Pakistan?
The U.S. ambassador writes a column about the disclosures. "I cannot vouch for the authenticity of any one of these documents," wrote Cameron Munter. "But I can say that the United States deeply regrets the disclosure of any information that was intended to be confidential. And we condemn it. Diplomats must engage in frank discussions with their colleagues, and they must be assured that these discussions will remain private."
One man's solution
A talk show host in Nashville offers this suggestion:"The wikileaks guy isn't hiding in a cave in Pakistan. Can't we find him and kill him!?!?!?!?" (Spotted by Phil Williams.)
A mystery solved
The Guardian's editor tells Yahoo's The Cutline that it gave a copy of the WikiLeaks documents to The New York Times. As noted below, The Times received the documents from a source that insisted on timing that coincided with publication by the other news organizations.
Gaddafi's fear of flying, even with his 'voluptuous blonde'
From the Washington Post: WikiLeaks cables reveal personal details on world leaders
Also from the Post: With better sharing of data comes danger
LA Times roundup is here: Iran 'must be stopped': Arab leaders pushed U.S. to attack, WikiLeaks disclosures show
But it's still early...
McClatchy Newspapers and Miami Herald: No evidence that WikiLeaks releases have hurt anyone
More from the Guardian
- Embassy cables tell of elderly American's escape from Iran: Man, 75, rode horse over freezing mountain range into Turkey
- Fear of 'different world' if Iran gets nuclear weapons
- Israel primed to attack a nuclear Iran
- Secret EU plot to boycott Ahmadinejad inauguration
- Iran 'lied to UN inspectors about Qom nuclear site'
- Arab states scorn 'evil' Iran
- Iranian spies 'used Red Crescent to enter war zones'
- Briton teaches U.S. diplomats how to talk to Iran
- Editor's note: Publishing the cables
A historian's dream, a diplomat's nightmare
Guardian journalists and others discuss the release, its context and the highlights so far.
Diplomats are not spies, State spokesman says
(via NYTimes): P.J. Crowley, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, reacts on his Twitter feed to the cables encouraging U.S. diplomats at the UN to collect personal information on UN officials: "Contrary to some #Wikileaks’ reporting, our diplomats are diplomats. They are not intelligence assets." And then, "Diplomats collect information that shapes our policies and actions. Diplomats for all nations do the same thing."
Newsweek analysis by Christopher Dickey: WikiLeaks will achieve the opposite of its goal of transparency. He says diplomats will now be afraid to write anything candid, turning diplomacy into public relations. (It's worth noting that WikiLeaks' stated goal is transparency. What it's actual goal is, will be judged by its actions.)
Google allows a word-by-word search of the (relatively few) documents released so far, using its "site" command. Phrase it like this, without the quotation marks: site:cablegate.wikileaks.org clinton. Like this.
Wired's Kevin Poulsen, who reports on hacking, has a roundup of the day's events. He reminds us that the Army intelligence specialist accused of pilfering the documents, Bradley Manning, smuggled them out of a secure facility on a CD-RW labeled "Lady Gaga."
AP posts a timeline of WikiLeaks and its leaks.
Nightly News video:
The materials tear the cover off some U.S. secret operations and offer up embarrassing critiques of world leaders. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
What these documents tell us about the Arab world
Marc Lynch describes the Arab reaction and disclosures, at Foreign Policy. He muses on the effects of revealing what Arab leaders really say, behind closed doors, particularly about Iran.
"Will Arab leaders pay any significant political price for these positions, as they clearly feared? Or will it turn out that in this era of authoritarian retrenchment they really can get away with whatever diplomatic heresies they like even if it outrages public opinion? Will the publication of their private views lead them to become less forthcoming in their behavior in order to prove their bona fides -- i.e. less supportive of containing or attacking Iran, or less willing to deal with Israel? Or will a limited public response to revelations about their private positions lead them to become bolder in acting on their true feelings?"
Setting the timing
A question: Why did the New York Times release the documents at the same time as the other news organizations, if it didn't get the documents from WikiLeaks?
The Times says it did not receive the documents from WikiLeaks, but from another source. And The Times says it has had the documents for several weeks? So why did it release them today, when other news organizations did? Why not, say, yesterday? The Times editor's note sheds only a little light on this, saying its source set the timing: "The documents — some 250,000 individual cables, the daily traffic between the State Department and more than 270 American diplomatic outposts around the world — were made available to The Times by a source who insisted on anonymity. They were originally obtained by WikiLeaks, an organization devoted to exposing official secrets, allegedly from a disenchanted, low-level Army intelligence analyst who exploited a security loophole. ... Except for the timing of publication, the material was provided without conditions."
So it appears that the Times is making the point that it didn't get the documents from WikiLeaks, but acknowledging that whoever gave the documents to the Times set the timing, which happens to be the same timing that WikiLeaks (or an intermediary) set for the other news organizations working under the embargo. It's curious: Has the Times decided that it would prefer (for legal reasons?) to receive the WikiLeaks data dumps through an intermediary? Or did WikiLeaks choose to use a third person to get the documents to The Times, and perhaps to the others? It will be interesting to read more about this in the editors' memoirs.
We asked the editor of the Times, Bill Keller, about this. Here's his reply, in full: "We agreed to coordinate timing with the other news organizations to avoid a stampede that would make for sloppy journalism and increase the risk of publishing something dangerous. Our agreement meant we had time to absorb the material and supply context. As you will see over the next week or so, this is careful journalism. It also allowed time for serious (and fruitful, in my view) discussions with the government about what to redact."
Yahoo's The Cutline blog says The Guardian fills in the missing piece: The British newspaper gave a set of the documents to The Times.
At Wired, Kevin Poulsen's take on all this: "The paper was among the outlets given embargoed access to earlier WikiLeaks disclosures, but fell out of favor with the organization when it profiled its leader, Julian Assange."
WikiLeaks says tomorrow it will invite other news organizations to "apply" for access to the cables under an embargo.
More from The Washington Post
"Secret cables reveal Iran has advanced missiles, is distrusted by U.S. allies in Persian Gulf." "The diplomatic memos disclose the extent to which many of the United States's allies in the Arab world repeatedly implored Washington to stop Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons."
WikiLeaks site is up
The WikiLeaks direct link for its cables site is finally working: http://cablegate.wikileaks.org/. Only a small portion of the cables have been posted, more than 200, with more expected. The documents posted so far have source names redacted, although anyone close to any of the governments could use these documents to quickly tell who is talking to (or working for) the U.S. embassy.
U.S. statement condemns release as "reprehensible."
Cable shows U.S. concern about the mental health of the president of Argentina.
From the Telegraph: Taliban courts prepare to punish any Afghan informers named in the diplomatic cables.
Times says its copy of the documents did not come directly from WikiLeaks (via Yahoo).
Senators in Washington: prosecute leakers.
What "inappropriate behavior" by a British royal will we be reading about?
William Kristol's advice for the U.S. on the WikiLeaks release, in the Weekly Standard: No apologies, no complaints, no explanations, no excuses.
On Twitter, users are reading about a hacker who claims responsibility for the denial-of-service attack against WikiLeaks.
From The Telegraph, a profile of Bradley Manning, suspected of stealing and distributing the diplomatic cables. So far he has been charged with distributing just one diplomatic cable.
Washington Post video: The founder of WikiLeaks answers questions from Post readers.
In Israel, the newspaper Haaretz explores a 2009 cable about Iranian nuclear ambitions: "A 2009 American government cable released Sunday by the WikiLeaks website quotes Defense Minister Ehud Barak as telling visiting American officials that a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities was viable until the end of 2010, but after that "any military solution would result in unacceptable collateral damage."
Locked out of the early release, the Washington Post provides perspective. From among all the stories in these documents, the Post seems to choose the most interesting: spying at the UN. "The documents suggest American diplomats were ordered to engage in low-level spying by obtaining personal information on foreign diplomats such as frequent flier and credit card numbers, presumably to better track their movements."
In a closing of the barn door after the horse has ridden away, the Pentagon has tightened rules on use of flash drives.
Talk back to the editors
Editors at The New York Times are inviting questions on the WikiLeaks release. See the bottom of this editor's note or send an e-mail. And Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger will be online Monday at 4 p.m. in London.
The Guardian is blogging about WikiLeaks here.
One more from Der Spiegel: WikiLeaks FAQ: What do the cables really tell us?
More from the Guardian UK):
- U.S. cables leak sparks global diplomacy crisis
- Explore the database of U.S. cables
- Diplomats ordered to spy on UN leadership
- Saudi Arabia urges U.S. attack on Iran to stop nuclear programme
- US view of Kim Jong-il, Putin, Sarkozy and Berlusconi
- Commentary: The job of the media is not to protect power from embarrassment
- How 250,000 U.S. embassy cables were leaked
- Siprnet, where America stores its secret cables
- Data blog: What the cables tell us
The four New York Times articles:
- Cables shine light into secret diplomatic channels
- Around the world, distress over Iran
- Iran fortifies its arsenal with the aid of North Korea
- Mixing diplomacy with spying
The Times is following reaction on its Lede Blog.
And a selection of notable messages, via The Times.
More from Der Spiegel:
- A superpower's view of the world. "Never before has a superpower lost control of such vast amounts of such sensitive information."
- The German dispatches: Internal source kept U.S. informed of Merkel coalition negotiations
- 'Tribune of Anatolia': Diplomatic cables reveal U.S. doubts about Turkey's government
- Orders from Clinton: U.S. diplomats told to spy on other countries at United Nations
It's interesting to see the manpower tally at the bottom of a news article. Here's the New York Times contributor list for its lede article, a roster which few news organizations could match: Scott Shane reported from Washington, and Andrew W. Lehren from New York. Reporting was contributed by Jo Becker, C. J. Chivers and James Glanz from New York; Eric Lichtblau, Michael R. Gordon, David E. Sanger, Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt and Ginger Thompson from Washington; and Jane Perlez from Islamabad, Pakistan.
The New York Times publishes letters between WikiLeaks and the U.S. government.
The White House issues a condemnation of the WikiLeaks disclosures: "We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information. ... President Obama supports responsible, accountable, and open government at home and around the world, but this reckless and dangerous action runs counter to that goal,” the statement said. “By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals."
The New York Times posts the first four articles of a series drawn from the new cables. A huge trove of State Department communiqués offer an extraordinary look at the inner workings, and sharp elbows, of diplomacy. The first article leads with disclosures on a standoff with Pakistan over nuclear fuel, gaming of an eventual collapse of the North Korean regime, bargaining with countries to take Guantanamo prisoners, suspicions of corruption in the Afghan government, and Chinese efforts to hack into computers in the U.S.
And Times editors post a note explaining their decision to publish, and to withhold many of the documents: "The Times believes that the documents serve an important public interest, illuminating the goals, successes, compromises and frustrations of American diplomacy in a way that other accounts cannot match. ... The Times has taken care to exclude, in its articles and in supplementary material, in print and online, information that would endanger confidential informants or compromise national security. The Times’s redactions were shared with other news organizations and communicated to WikiLeaks, in the hope that they would similarly edit the documents they planned to post online."
From other news organizations taht had advance access to the messages: The Guardian (UK), Der Spiegel (English language version of the German news magazine), Le Monde (French), and El País (Spanish).
A political meltdown
The summary by Der Spiegel: "Included are 243,270 diplomatic cables filed by US embassies to the State Department and 8,017 directives that the State Department sent to its diplomatic outposts around the world. In the coming days, the participating media will show in a series of investigative stories how America seeks to steer the world. The development is no less than a political meltdown for American foreign policy."
Our roundup story from NBC News sources is here.
Trying to pump up the volume, WikiLeaks begs the Web to use a hashtag #cablegate to discuss the release.
Pages from the German magazine Der Spiegel have been released early. Report by Jerusalem Post:'Ahmadinejad is Hitler; Sarkozy is a naked emperor.'
Cover of Der Spiegel is posted by Gawker among others.
WikiLeaks claims to be under a denial-of-service attack. As of 12:52 p.m. Eastern time, the WikiLeaks Web site is failing to load, or is timing out.
12:42 p.m. Eastern: New report from The New York Times, one of the news organizations expected to publish some of the documents.
Roundups here from Reuters and CNN.
WikiLeaks says information will be released this evening by El Pais, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Guardian & New York Times
Gawker says tweets from Germany suggest the release will be a let-down, without explosive items.
Reuters: Italian foreign minister calls the release the 9/11 of diplomacy
Also see Michael Isikoff's report Friday on Open Channel: Harmful documents or hyperventilating?
What should we be investigating? Send documents and story ideas to NBC's Open Channel.
This is just a whole lot of spin-doctoring by the U.S. news media, they know what is in these documents and if the US government does not want it known what type of sh it they are up to then they should be open and honest. Quite a contradiction in terms for our government I know but still....
I have read a fair number of comments, including some here at MSNBC , suggesting Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are traitors or engaging in sedition and should be punished for their release of these docs. I beg to differ. What Assange has done this past year in releasing raw intel and unvarnished truth , in quantity , straight from the sources within the halls of government and the military , is nothing short of revolutionary in charting history and exposing both war and geopolitical diplomacy for what it is. Previously ( with the exception of the Pentagon Papers ) this was a process that took the long slow excruciating course of " History " , and too often resulted in that history being doctored or disinformed. With WikiLeaks, we do not have to wait the customary 50 years to find out what was going on in the cloistered halls of the War Rooms, Board Rooms, inner circles and oval offices . And we get the raw intel , not the refined or otherwise " sanitized" version. This changes everything.
That the US government is running damage control with various other governments in advance of the leaks, and the fact Julian Assange is being ( likely ) framed on trumped up rape charges , is evidence enough to me that the governments fear the truth and fear being held accountable or even dragged into the bright sunshine so soon. Further, the trumped up claim by the US government that the latest WikiLeaks release puts people in harm's way is only so much bluster. The government cannot be serious about making those claims when it has so much blood on its hands, the loss of thousands of combat casualties in the senseless war in Iraq, and tens of thousands of civilians and collateral damage that need never have occurred at all ---for what ? Yes, maybe a few new folks are now in the crosshairs, but what about the thousands already lost and the thousands maybe saved the brutality ?
Personally , I don;t think there will be many if any damning accounts in the new release. It may turn out to be a tempest in a crock pot. Regardless, it gives and succinct view into the mechanisms of war and diplomacy. THAT alone makes the WikiLeaks worthwhile. Who can possibly be against the truth ? Is that not what the US seeks to instill in our foreign involvements?---democracy based on an informed and enlightened populace ??
Julian Assange is the Person of the Year, in my opinion, for catatlysing these WikiLeaks releases. Whatever you think of him personally , he has done us all a huge favor. The mainstream media should thank him greatly for doing their work for them.
We'll see....
I am an unreconstructed FDR Democrat. I reluctantly voted for President Obama since my preferred candidate ran a lousy campaign and squandered her chances at the nomination and the election.
I consider this so-called transparent administration to be one of the least transparent administrations in my 60 years on this planet. They are Bush / Cheney 3.0 in their conduct, morality and the resultant level of threat to our individual civil liberties.
The vast majority of people know that life is much easier when it is lived without deceit and double dealing. Guess what? The same goes for nations too.
The release of these communications will serve to bring the antiseptic of sunlight to the pustule that is our secret real foreign policy. It has all of the advantages one could ask for. It truthfully lays out to the American public that which is being done in their name. It allows for the tracking of rivers of secret money being used to corrupt all of the political systems in the world at our personal expense. And it puts the lie to a web of false constructions used to sedate and mollify a gullible electorate for the purpose of perpetuating the diversion of that river of money paid for with the blood of hundreds of thousands of people caught in the gaping maw of the war machine.
Don't get me wrong. When someone attacks us we have the right and the obligation to swiftly and thoroughly respond; leaving them unable to ever strike again. But through both administrations since 911 we have the cynical deadly triumvirate of the Administration colluding with War Profiteers and Money Lenders. It is an evil construction and the one thing that threatens to bring it down is the widespread dissemination of the truth to the public.
Daniel Ellsberg taught us this lesson by exposing the truth about our involvement in Vietnam so many years ago. To me he is a hero and what is happening now with WikiLeaks today is in the best tradition of freedom loving peoples the world over.
Arrest Assange, try him for treason, tie him to a post, no last cigarette, no last meal, just FIRE.
how can you be so ignorant? you are on a level i can not even comprehend...
wake up!
Everyone keeps saying WikiLeaks or Assange should be tried for treason. I refer to another "wiki" to refresh those confused on the definition of treason.
Treason - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of betrayal of one's sovereign or nation."
Last time I checked, Assange or Wikileaks are not American citizens (Australian and well, none). Some people are so uneducated and ignorant it blows my mind.
Last time I checked, Assange or Wikileaks are not American citizens (Australian and well, none). Some people are so uneducated and ignorant it blows my mind.
You are right but have you even bothered to read them all and think of the ramifications when uneducated countries and our opponents translate them. I think you are less then RED, WHITE AND BLUE
Yo Nick 2638762 (Is that your inmate number?) - I do not believe I am ignorant. I have 5 earned degrees. I am an American patriot and if this A--H---- is giving away classified information, then we must go after him, through legal channels if necessary.
This seems to be correct and they cannot be charged in America for treason against America. They can be treated as an enemy of the state however. That is what they are in fact, an enemy of the United States of America. The current pole smoking flaming hot liberal POTUS even endorses this. That should tell the sympathizers something.
When people cheer on an enemy of the United States they are no better than the masses that were throwing candy to children in wild celebration on 9/11. Person of the Year some of you say about this idiot. Well you keep throwing that candy all you want. I'm not eating it.
Yes, well said. Probably too easy on him though. We should employ the same tactics as the enemy to which he is helping, and just cut his small head off.
I truly do not understand why so many people want these documents leaked. Our government keeps secrets from us. NO SH*T! It's war, we can't broadcast our communications to the fricken world while we're in a war. Good lord. The sheer stupidity of the very idea is unbecoming. I simply cannot understand the rational behind support for the release of documents about a current war.
Now, as for punishment. What we really need to do is find out how this stuff got leaked... Once it's out there, there's not much we can do about it.
The truth. I like the truth. I can handle the truth,whether I like it or not. I hope everyone else can to.
Give Assange Medal of Honor.
If he is not an American citizen, then sic the CIA on his butt. Maybe this will wake that A--H---- up. He is betraying the free world, not just the U.S.
Excellant point of view and comment Shel Rama. Well said.
Excuse me, but what the hell are you talking about?
Sorry, I was referring to Cotopaxi99
We Italians (mean, the non-communist ones) couldn't care less of the opinionios of Elizabeth Dibble. Like "Dirty" Harry Callahan loved to say, "opinions are like @!$%#s. Everyone has one". And as to our relations with Russia and Mr. Putin, until the day when USA will be able to supply us with natural gas through an oceanic duct, we'll go on being friends of Russia. We need to heat our homes, and somebody must do it. And we're happy of our prime Minister. One of the most effective until now. And this says it all.
Once Tricky Dick got away with changing the war on poverty to the war on drugs. Putting the D.E.A. together and class drugs. This made possible the expansion of corp.prison systems Eisenhower warned about. When the C.I.A. and the Capital Hill Fat Cats got away with Iran Contra scandal it's been pretty much a free for all in America. They were caught red handed fronting cocaine to Freeway Ricky to sell on the streets of L.A. After that they have kept the Hood's full of drugs and their pockets and cooperate slave systems [prisons] full. This changed the tide in America's economics's and wont change unless these bastards are run off the hill. Do you really believe a war on terrorist? The drug fish was stinking, so just like Tricky Dick, it was "W"s turn the tide, so he made the war on drugs become terrorism. As these documents will show in time when large lumps of cash pop up out of nowhere AND they get caught and nothing happens. Maybe you will understand what the gangs already have know for years. Where do all these drugs come from? Its going to take 80 million mad Americans to stop paying taxes and yank these scam artist off the hill and the rest will roll down.
From what little I have read, The views expressed, about other countries and their leaders and policies are spot on. So much for being P.C. behind closed doors. The average American can see whats going on in the world, I know it is not wise to tell a woman her dress is ugly, the truth hurts!
As sensationalist as they may be I do not see any reason for retribution on anyone's part. These are all things I and other know and have known. The fact is embarrassment is just that but really I must reiterate no surprises here. It simply gives an over view [nothing more] of what it is to run a government in these days and times. These are things we should know. As for diplomatic spying? Its dirty pool, a game to be played is played and has been played on many fronts by many countries. We are not alone in this by a long shot. Israel spying on us for example. Italy spying on us as well as two prominent European nations. Also one that does have concern is the relationship between Putin, [not Russia mind you] and the guy from Italy.
Also when we go back to Alamogordo and the other desert facility during the Clinton years it becomes crystal clear of the active sabotage and espionage by China on our soil. Maybe China recently was the state sponsored virus attack on Iran for one reason or another? Glad to see em and what has become the norm due to Bush and cheney and the country in which we now live. My idea of never having a world currency is intact. The Fed be damned ; ]
Cheers luv.
I don't understand why the editor, or whatever, of Wikileaks hasn't been charged with treason.
I consider myself a very strong liberal--in most instances. However, I have problems believing that Assange is publishing his material in the best interest of the US. He should be charged with treason.
If you're really a liberal, you'd know that you can't charge a non-citizen with Treason.
Treason against a country can only be committed by one's own citizens, plus it must have a measurable under-mining effect.
The only person that could be conceivably be charged with treason is Private Manning, but he would be acquitted - treason requires at least two witnesses in the U.S. in order to be convicted.
That's why the Chinese are using Assange as a front for their organization that they created. Assange cannot not be caught.
Assange is Carlos the Jackel.
He is not an American and therefore cannot be charged with treason. Treason is the betrayal of ones own country. The Army specialist who stole and furnished these documents to him could be charged with numerous counts of treason, I believe. One count would suffice because the max penalty for treason is death. That should be the only punishment for treason. Treason should also include corruption by an elected or appointed official, influence peddling, abuse or misuse of office or public funds, and bribery as well as being convicted of ANY crime while in public office. However he could be charged with espionage.
A slow, painful death is too good for all those with any tiny bit of participation in these leaks. I would love to have access to assange (his name doesn't deserve capitalization). If he thinks what he has done is OK, why isn't he out in the public? Instead, he is hiding like the coward he is, probably looking for an innocent young girl to rape.
"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters" Benjamin Franklin It seems to me that you don't realize that you are a servant to those who you seem to believe, are you leaders.
I think ASSange just set up his own assassination. They will be giving out lottery tickets at the UN to see which country gets first shot (no pun intended) at it.
The Chinese are supporting this. They would poison Assange themselves. But he is making tons of money which is probably hidden and getting a lot of attention.
It's a win-win for the Chinese and Assange. And everyone else who thinks this is funny.
Yes, I believe that Mr. Asswipe will soon have a freak accident... mysterious...
There is a hunger for truth and transparency and WikiLeaks is filling that need. As society, it would appear that we need to do some soul searching about our underlying values and how we might get back on course. It is a 'group think' issue combined with a politico which has become a bit too full of itself. The American individual MUST be able to trust and be proud of its Government in order to become a passionate and unified force.
Who watches the watchers?
Until Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks, apparently no one.
I don't care for the man personally, and I believe he has an ax to grind - but I must applaud him. He has succeeded where no amount of "transparency" or "sunshine laws" have ever succeeded.
As a Citizen of the United States, I have an absolute right to know what's being done in MY name by MY ELECTED Government. There was much bruhaha over the Iraq and Afghanistan papers - but the Pentagon's OWN investigation concluded that no harm came to anyone because of the releases. That, in and of itself, tells the story.
And for those Ambassadors and staff who are embarrassed by their opinions, thoughts and words - maybe next time you should just stick to the facts, and some interpolation - keep your personal opinions to yourself, or at least don't commit them to paper!
Andrea Mitchell should get an Oscar as she spin the truth. Andrea never mentioned the Bush Administration but even excluded actions of spying by Connie Rice. The listener would believe all this corruption was done under the Obama Administration which most Americans believe anyway. Many remember Bush refuse to allow Obama to see the national security information until after he was sworn in yet other Presidents always give the information to the incoming President to be ready to act on the first day. Now we know why. Obama is smart he resigned as Senator and learned of the corruption by the World Leaders he called. Many Americans questions why Obama didn't file charges against the Bush Administration well now you see how deep the corruption was and it involved World Leaders that Bush paid. Spying was done and ordered under the Bush Administration and notice how Russian spys were sent home quickly. What Andrea didn't say is the order was under Connie's watch ordered by Dick Cheney. Even Sarah Palin got in the wikileaks with her secrets and emails. No matter how much the wing nuts and reporters paid by them continue to try and spin the corruption done by the Bush Administration the United Nations will have to act. Bush and Cheney lost the trust of the World and Obama has earned it back. Republicans are afraid the World Leaders will work with Obama and they will do what ever it takes to stop it. Israel and Bush's friend the Saudi King ruled the direction as we see. But the Saudi King showed with his choice of words what he really thought of the Bush Administration with his prositive comments about Obama. Americans caught up in racism/hate will continue to attack Obama but the World knows an intelligent honest President he is. No worries even if Americans don't know how the US Government works the World is educated enough to know we elect a new President every four years and their looking forward to another dumb President like Bush. China is already number one in the World and others hope to move up quickly when a US President gets elected. With some of the dumbest Republican leaders in charge the World knows just how low we have dropped.
Now few will report the cooperation Bush had with Syria and Iran during the 8 years. Americans were given the smoke screen of the Axis of Evil but never knew they were working with Cheney. Germany got paid by the US to allow planes to refuel planes with kidnapped victims to be transported to Syria, Iran and Libya to torture people. The Assassination Squad to silence people who might leak the scams. Each World Leader used both Bush and Cheney for their own interest. Remember Bush had Saudi rep. Bandar in the White House to make sure the Saudi King's wishes were done. As Bush left office Bandar left the US after 8 years. Notice how George W. Bush has never been invited to visit the people he called friends. Daddy Bush is now doing everything he can to save his idiot son. Liz Cheney is fighting to protect her heartless Father. Look for the Media/Press to do what they can to say Obama was responsible for the 8 years of crimes committed internationally. There will be more shockers to come as these crimes were committed for 8 years and many no longer in office were deeply involved. This should give you a little of what our troops had to deal with and why so many are still sick and why thousands died based on the Bush Administration corruption.
I love stories like this! Have you ever read Jack London's "Call of the Wild"? One of the truly immortal works. Take a look at it. It's non-fiction but I believe you will still find it interesting.
The facts in this are less then accurate. The days after barrack won the nomination, he was shown all the intelligence facts. The pictures of him walking out of that meeting showed the fear in his eyes. This is a very scary world, we are free in this country, and many want to take us down. Bush knew that, and did what it took to stop them, not sit back and whine.
A simple idea.
How about a very intelligent, true American Hacker, do his or her thing, and bring the WikiLeaks Web Site down. Or better yet, hack into their computers and delete all their files.
Sauce for the goose.
The Chinese are sponsoring this. Before we take down anything, let's think repercussions.
The US better stop screwing around and get CyberCommand up and running.
I think this whole episode just shows that the United States can't keep any secrets and we can't keep things people tell us secret.
Soon nobody will tell us anything if they don't want everyone to know.
But who is to blame? I blame our national security because they didn't catch it, they couldn't contain it, and as of yet nobody has been arrested for it and that in a way makes me feel either our national security is a complete joke or the whole thing is a con.
It's called the New Cold War and it's all cyberwarfare.
The Congress is holding up the organization of a CyberCommand center because we probably need to make certain of the rules of the game.
The TSA pat-down mess and the healthcare mess probably has Congress waiting for the Dems to leave the building before the grownups talk.
WOW! The "truth". Sounds like alot of people can't handle the "truth".
Would seem a huge blow to the Globalists, Socialists, and the administration. When the Korean War is over, and recognizing we will be expelled from the world theater, could we work on repairing the damage done to the US? Maybe create a job or two in the private sector? Or at least cease actively destroying them? Government, the false god of the socialists. Reality, truth, and consequences have not yet begun to hit the fan. Bama has so many loose ends that his inexperience will become even more obvious. He has fragmented this Country beyond repair and wants to unite the world in a One World Order? I can see where socialists would call Wiki-leaks traitors (to their cause). Keep your heads down. Stay safe.
Why is our gov. so timid about killing this man and his network and all the people that feed him secreit info they wernt timid when they killed Mr. Kennedy. They need to get off there back sides and do this thing before he dose untold harm to this country.
It's sponsored by the Chinese. They are looking for a fight. Are you ready for that?
I am really not up on all that's been going on here. As far as I can tell, some disenchanted, low-level Army intelligence analyst decides that it would be good payback to our government to expose all he knows about official secret U.S. documents, to some asinine organization like WikiLeaks. Then WikiLeaks takes it upon themselves to tell the whole world about all of our little secrets, that no one really cares about or needs to know about. If this is true, then I would classify all of those involved as reprehensible idiots that need to be punished in whatever way possible. WikiLeaks could possibly be classified as some kind of 'hate' organization and be put out of business. Please enlighten me if I have misunderstood this!
I believe you have misunderstood. With respect. Only about 200 cables available last I checked. I have only read a small percentage of that. But seems US diplomacy has insulted a great many countries and respective dignitaries around the world. It appears to expose a bit of hypocrisy and arrogance on the part of the US. And spying on UN delegates ordered by H. Clinton probably won't win us much support. Germany is reporting it as the death of our foreign policy. And let's face it, we weren't doing that great in the foreign relations arena to begin with. NYT can withhold everything. Won't matter. They are not the only ones with the documents. And this is obviously only the tip of the iceberg.
The earth has reached 7 billion people. It's time to re-think society anyway. And nothing is going to change until we get the skeletons out of the closet.
As for reckless endangerment. The Wiki leaks dude asked the goverment to negoitate what would be unsafe to release the the U.S. government said no negotiation.
Therefore the Government wants to endanger lives.
Ever herd the phrase, "Stick it to the man!"
Finally someone has got it right. Go for it Wiki.