Kate Woodsome 29 November 2010
Photo: AP
A news stand displaying newspapers, some carrying the story on WikiLeaks' release of classified U.S. State Department documents, at a newsagent in central London, Nov. 29, 2010.
Senior officials from Washington to Australia to Pakistan are responding with alarm to the latest release of thousands of classified U.S. documents by the online whistleblowing group WikiLeaks. But some officials are looking at the uncensored view of America's diplomatic corps as a window into how the U.S. State Department sees the world.
Pakistani newspapers splashed the news across its front pages Monday, a day after the leaks revealed damning characterizations of Pakistan and its president, Asif Ali Zardari. Saudi King Abdullah is quoted in one cable calling Mr. Zardari the greatest obstacle to Pakistan's progress. In the document, the king says, "When the head is rotten, it affects the whole body."
Mr. Zardari's spokesman accused WikiLeaks of damaging Pakistan's relations with Saudi Arabia, and said President Zardari considers King Abdullah as his elder brother.
The cables also cast Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a negative light, suggesting he is sympathetic to Islamists and knows little of the world outside Ankara. Mr. Erdogan said that he would wait to find out more information before announcing his reaction.
"Let's first see exactly what WikiLeaks is hiding under its skirt. Then we will see if the claims are serious or not," the Turkish leader told reporters in Ankara Monday. "The credibility of WikiLeaks is under suspicion, so for now we are waiting to see what they have and then we will make the appropriate announcement."
For Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the diplomatic leak was positive. He said Monday that Israel has not been damaged by the leak and, if anything, its concerns about Iran have been validated. The documents underscore the concern of Arab countries about Iran. In one, Saudi Arabia urges the U.S. to carry out military strikes to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, a stance also advocated by Israel.
The contents of the leaked cables also drew some praise from some U.S. allies. Jonathan Powell, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief of staff, said that as a diplomat it was fascinating to read the private correspondence of his counterparts. Powell said that overall, the documents show that American envoys are well-connected and well-informed about political issues abroad.
The British government has formally condemned the leak. And France quickly pledged support for the Obama administration as it moved into damage-control mode after the inner thoughts of its diplomatic corps spilled into an open discussion about America's friends and foes.
Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced Monday that his government is investigating whether the leak broke any of the country's laws.
"The release of this information could prejudice the safety of people referred to in the documentation and indeed could be damaging to the national security interests of the United States and its allies including Australia," McClelland told reporters. So, obviously, Australia will support any law enforcement action that may be taken."
One of the cables, from the U.S. embassy in Zimbabwe, described Australia as a "rock solid" ally, but said it did not have enough influence to affect events in that country.
McClelland said he has set up a task force to determine, and deal with, the impact of the leaks. Of the quarter-million documents released, about 1,400 mention Australia, with 1,000 cables originating from the U.S. embassy in Canberra.
"I've asked the Australian Federal Police to look at the issue as to whether any Australian laws have been breached as a specific issue as well," McClelland said.
The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, is an Australian citizen. McClelland said federal police are looking into whether Assange broke any criminal laws. However, he said he had no knowledge of reports that the United States has asked Australia to revoke Assange's passport.
I could care less hahahahaha
This is what passes for intelligence at the State Department? http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2010/11/wikileaks-muammar-al-qadhafi-and-his-so_28.html Has no one at the State Department heard of Wikipedia or Google? From this cable, Colonel Qadhafi’s proclivities look no worse than those of many celebrities and aging rock stars.
Commedy of ERRORS!:(:)
Wiki you are so irresponsible. You think by publishing all of this you are exercising your constitutional rights. What you are doing is being irresponsible toward the American people. How many will die now because of this. How many people within the United States will die because of this. How many mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters around the world and maybe here at home will lose a loved one because of this. I think that you should be looked at as terriorist, and tried for espionage.
How long before Julian Assange meets with an unfortunate accident? I think he could have gotten away with the first leak but this one if over the top and is bound to bring him unwanted attention and unfortunatley harm. This is how the world works people whether we like to admit it or not.....
I love Erdogan's comments in response to the accusation that he is " is sympathetic to Islamists and knows little of the world outside Ankara" -- He is going to wait and find out more information-- does that mean he is going to learn about the world outside Ankara? And then he questions the credibility of the documents, even though responses around the world have made it clear that these documents are not faked.
It is treason and it should be punished as such. Dedicated people in the defense of our country may die because of the leaks and our defense will be weakened also.
Who's surprised by how arrogant and ignorant Americans are?
If they are so worried that the world sees how they conduct business then perhaps they should conduct business in a more responsible and conscientious manner. Or maybe they are concerned that the world will see who the true 'axis of evil' is.
WikiLeaks is unfair and anti-American. Releasing info about absurdities that at times show more personal viewpoints than official view is unfair to the USA. It would be fair if it help solve a problem. However, simply releasing confidential or secret information about the USA by a foreigner has not merit. It would be creditable if the same would be done to Russia and China; but, the bad guys are not mentioned. Does WikiLeaks only have spies in the US?
If it is favorable to Israel then Wikileaks probably has been compromised by Israel.
What else is new? What I read here does not seem to be of great concern, just candid assessments by those who wrote them. In the other hand, I watched Hillary Clinton admit on TV that she personally would not submit to be body scanned or groped. If the Secretary of State would not do it, what makes government officials think that 75% of the rest of the country likes being subjected Gestapo style?
Who's lives does this leak put in danger? Would the number exceed the 5,000 Americans already killed in Iraq? Would it come even close to the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis who had nothing to do with 9/11? If the Pentagon Papers had anything to do with stopping the senseless war in Vietnam, perhaps Wikileaks might expose the idiocy of American policies that start wars under false pretenses. Perhaps future leaks will expose the real reasons behind these wars. (Oil leases? Pipelines?)
That the world is managed by criminals and thieves is no suprise; that they want to hide their crimes, also no suprise.
As of now, there is no real "intelligence" in these secret intelligence (cables). Is this what we taxpayers pay these bumbling idiots in Pentagon and State Dept billions of dollars for?
These leaks show the all too human nature of the US State Dept. and nothing more. Big deal. US Ambassadors are trash talking their international counterparts. That is business as usual. International counterparts are trash talking the USA. Big deal. Embarrassing yes. Damaging...no. Next. Now let's move on to more important issues and problems. Besides all this, Assange is a narcissist who is doing this out of an inflated sense of his own importance...to strengthen his ego.
It only takes one bad-apple to leak important information so we should not blame the entire State Department for the leak. But controls should be in-place to track who accesses data and flags should be raised when unusual volumes of data are copied. Perhaps State should chat off-line and not commit its thoughts to electronic means. When you put something in a computer either at State or FaceBook or Twitter you no longer have control over it no matter what someone tells you.
As far as the released documents, in large part they will turn out to be much ado about nothing. Showing that internal classified diplomatic documents do not always reflect the official media-released policy is really no surprise whatsoever. The fact that after sifting through a quarter of a million documents, a small percentage can be viewed as "damaging" is to be %100 expected. Jonathan Powell's view will turn out to be the general consensus.
This is fantastically healthy to see all our leaders squirm! Watch them try and convince us it's bad for our well being!
every politician is a charlatan!
i proude of you, keep showing real face of whol world to common person, thanks alot to give us a huge information,
Nobody can hide the truth for a long time, will come out when time comes.
Don Vito is right...
THANKS WIKI. A GREAT JOB. LET WORLD SEE THE REAL US. CONGRATS. WELL DONE.
People who are enen slightly informed know that Arab countries desire to attack Iran isn't any indication of the danger posed by that country. Sunnis view Shiites as heretics and in Saudi Arabia; Shiites are powerless and retain absolutely no rights. This creates a problem. Other Arab countries with Sunni majorities have followed suit. Iran is a country with a Shiite majority and Shiite leadership. If the date were 1700 the attitudes would be the same as present.
This was the misuse of being super power, wait for China or India to come up, Now any American can be seen as Intelligence personal. Let the USA see mirror this time.....
this is just reams of 'diplomatic' gossip - don't see anything 'sensational' as yet
NOW CAN WE TELL THE US WHAT TO DO WITH THEMSELVES. WHY DO WE BRITS PERSIST WITH THIS SILLY NOTION OF A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE USA. OUR POLITICIANS EMBARASS US WITH THEIR BROWN NOSING TO THE US. ITS PATHETIC. WE CONSISTENTLY SUPPORT THEIR WARS, AND ALL THEY DO IS BELITTLE AND UNDERMINE THEIR ONLY TRUE ALLY. THEY SUCK
Do not despair; in all of this chaos, there is good news. The administration has taken quick and decisive action by condemning Wikileaks, an authoritative wag of the finger if you will...
real freedom , walk rigth.
Treason? think.If America is the freedom loving country it claims to be, transparency is a necessity.People have every right to know what they're elected officials are doing.The problem is that not enough people are going to follow up on this and it will all blow over in a week.American education is in steep decline.Far too many people ignore the realities of the world, embrace (American)extremism and become complacent with deceitful and manipulative gov't and media outlets.
Whatever as if there is not enough to worry about.
This is not treason because WikiLeaks is not a US based organization. This is also not unAmerican when you consider how much we pride ourselve son freedom and being free means speking the truth. What is unAmerican are individuals against the freedom of the press and freedom of speech. I think we should nominate Julian Assange as president of the USA and he will release all of the truth!!!
at least president mugabe is plain and simple, he dont have nothing to hide, he told the americans to go hang!!!! the americans are true and real hypocrites, they do not stand for wat they advocate.... and to call cde mugabe "devil" was their luck streached too far... thank you wikileaks for showing us the true face of the USA.... hypocrites of note...
This earth shaking incident already surfaced and it seems too late to do a fixing while it exposes to the sunlight and all goods and bads and uglies related to this incident are all nakedly exposed to show off their butts!
Dear friends: Media are doing a great job. WikiLeak is show another-back side of smiling official faces, the value of oficial information, the real double standards/opinions of oficial words about the same situation. Please continue to publish secrets in etical way. Sincerely, Vladimir
Pfft..a bit of gossip, some rehashing of old alliances and overall, a view of the USA that shows it is pretty balanced in how it holds back from attacking Iran even though the regional powers want it. What has been the policy of the US towards Iran?, Attempts at engagement, but showing that it has limits. What to make of Prince Andrew leading and cheering on British business types to be their best at a function? Sounds like a bit of old Ronald Reagan motivating the country in days of yore.
Why are you all judging Mr. Assange? Non of you know what could have happened if it was not of his leaks. So, please give these time to prove the real trueth. God will solve the problem for all of you. How come there are things you all want to know about and those you dont? Whats the difference. These is just information that could work well. Just give it time to build a new generation.
All you chumps are very gullable...I cant believe that you half wits actually believe a website can publish private and confidential information and the America the great cant shut it down, the US can drop atom bombs, kill millions of people, displace another billion people and cant shut down a website....another fact you might find interesting is that why wasnt anything leaked about Israel, the number one problem in the middile east and nothing was said about it????
The US is the bully of the world and all the brown nosing Australian MP's should move there! America is the cause of all the trouble in the world.
Diplomacy is now a days is the Betrayal to entire humanity. It is crime of the so called civil society.
Read Noam Chomsky if you want to be better inform
It is not information, but the terrorization. Because, only terrorism is not afraid to put people's life and destiny of the country in peril
Freedom displays its negative face
No wander that's what the US government is doing to the rest of the countries.
I think , this is what Americans are. Americans are hypocrites. We Indians thought they respect us & others as well, but actually they mock us. Shame on americans
