Wikileaks: Embassy cables this time

Those who have leaked this information could well be responsible for a war breaking out somewhere.

Whoever did this needs to be punished so severely that no one in a similar position will ever give a thought to doing likewise.

Oh and isn't it amazing that the New York Times wouldn't publish the climate gate emails because they were "stolen" and "private" has exactly zero problem publishing these dispatches.

Except this isn't all just chatter about foreign countries that was released. One of them involves the U.S. bombing terrorists in Yemen, then the Yemeni government taking responsibility for it since civilians are getting killed.

Yeah, it should have been 't3hj3st3r'

Wikileaks has hosted plenty of information that promotes US causes as well, if anyone leaks out NK or Iranian government information you can guarantee they will host that as well.

As for this situation, the military member who leaked it out should obviously be dealt with very severely. This isn't just valid whistleblowing on some sort of coverup, it's a wholesale abuse of access on that soldiers part.

On the other hand, I am not really concerned about any significant ramifications from this. We are talking about a database that literally millions of people had access to. You can guarantee that any country with the slightest spy activity has been reading all of this for years anyway.

Why, yes. Utterly baffling. Skin, for one, is utterly baffled.

I find it extremely funny to listen to the indiginous moralist outbreaks from the conceited shitheads at the top of command of this.

Newsflash, if you don't want to be despised by people and get yourself in trouble, maybe you should avoid behaving like an asshole?

Because international relations is exactly like an evening at the gentleman's club, right? Just a bunch of guys sitting around, discussing Wittgenstein, saying "right, right" and "cheerio, old chap" and everything is on the level, nobody is working for his own interests, and nobody's lives are at stake.

First: I knew it wasn't just about hitting the U.S. We're just the latest target of convenience.

My point was mostly about the character doing the leaking. He's in it for the notoriety. He doesn't really care about the freedom of speech issues out there or revealing what kind of scum work for any particular government. A few generations ago, he'd be publishing dirty pictures with a hand-cranked printing press from his basement and selling them to school kids.

Second, yeah. The guy that provided him with this data is just dumping. He's obviously not some whistleblower or there'd be something more targeted.

Last - the point's already been made that diplomatic communications need to be kept confidential. These are, by definition, often opinions and feelings and have to be judged as such. Just dumping these out there with no context is asking for trouble and, further, undermines future use of diplomatic channels.

If Wikileaks thinks they're doing this to improve things then they're sadly mistaken. If anything, it makes things worse by forcing governments to go back and waste resources on stuff that really shouldn't be an issue. It has the potential to create a lot of hostility when there was no substantive basis for it.

If and when they do, I'll be shocked and flabbergasted. He knows just how far he can push his luck and who he can push. He's a schoolyard bully and he's selects his victims carefully.

If by schoolyard bully, you mean one man vs. the entire sovereign might of the world's largest economic and military power.

No. By "schoolyard bully", I mean the guy who's found victim(s) either unwilling or unable to fight back. In the case of the U.S., it's most definitely "unwilling" as we are perfectly capable of wiping him out if we just had the will to do so.

yeah.....

Supposedly he has a bunch of Russian documents but I wonder why he hasn't released them? Could it be that he knows the Russians will shove radiation poison up his ass the first chance they get?

They may just give him some all natural Ricin for a treat.

Oh I don't disagree that governments need their secrets*, but there's a large amount of schadenfreude coming since governments today - especially the US government - think people don't need theirs.

*the US having Yemen take responsibility for US airstrikes, however, is not one of them.

I can't help but see the upside of this, in that Iran is getting a public reminder of his little support they really have among their fellow Muslim countries. It'll also give Israel and the US some cover if/when they do take out the Iranian muclear program. Hard for other countries to hold it against them when they're on record as supporting it.

Arrest warrant has been issued for Assange the molester.

Don't worry 14th Doc I'm sure he'll set up a defense fund for you to contribute your victims money too!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/30/interpol-wanted-notice-julian-assange

Go figure, Equador's leftist government is offering asylum. I suppose Uncle Hugo will do so as well just out of spite if nothing else.

Whatever happens, this man is in a world of hurt.

How the hell did an Army Private have access to all that?

Oh, Assange's from Townsville? That explains everything right there

An estimated 3.5 million people had access to it. Co-ordination and all that....

Yeah its not at all a coincidence that a man who is hated by countries the world over would suddenly find himself charged with a crime.

That's called "you make your own karma," Nicky.

It couldn't possibly be that his crimes wouldn't be front-page news without his notoriety, would it?

He'd still be getting busted for them, he just wouldn't be able to whine about the unfairness of getting harassed for rape in front of a world audience.

Because he couldn't possibly be committing crimes at the same time as he's a hero to the masses, right?

Add the treason thing to the suspicion of rape investigations and you've got somebody who's going to be "harassed". He just happens to have made himself a big public soapbox.