Wikileaks & Julian Assange: Rocking the World with Information

Is diplomacy dead for America? It might seem so after reading the Wikileaks revelation that Hillary Clinton told diplomats to collect information on members of the United Nations. This sort of spying by diplomats violates international law.

What kind of repercussions will Hillary Clinton and the USA face for this behavior?

Is the release of information just a big faux pas for our security system that embarrasses the USA or is Wikileaks going to cause an overhaul of our entire diplomacy program?

Many of the documents released by Wikileaks are messages about foreign leaders. Many of the documents contain mocking statements about the leaders of other countries. These documents will rock America's ability for diplomacy with other countries.

There is already muttering from abroad about how Hillary Clinton should be fired. Has Mrs. Clinton lost control of the diplomatic program? Is she ordering her staff to do things that are illegal? Wikileaks is showing us information that raises a lot of questions.

Derision to President of Afghanistan: Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan is described as a man who "floats along on paranoia and extremely weak." Those statements should certainly add some new conflict between President Obama and President Karzai. And with the war in Afghanistan still raging, conflict with the leaders of that country places our troops in a perilous situation.

And the vice president of Afghanistan is also mentioned in the cables. A cable that originated at the American Embassy in Kabul talked about a "significant amount" of money that Ahmed Zia Massoud had on him during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. The Drug Enforcement Administation stated that he was holding $52 million in cash during the trip. What might all of that cash be buying in the United Arab Emirates? That huge amount of cash moving out of Afghanistan is alarming and reeks of payoffs or corruption.

America seems to be in way over its head in the war in Afghanistan. Nothing is being accomplished there. We are losing many troops and have little to show for it. And now

with the release of diplomatic cables that smear the leadership of Afghanistan, it seems ever more clear that we are trying to negotiate with a country that our leaders do not understand and will never be able to interact with in full trust. Bring the troops home President Obama. Your continuation of the war started by George W. Bush is nonsensical. What do you think you are going to achieve?

A Call for War Against Iran from Middle East

The documents released by Wikileaks show that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was making phone calls to the government in America requesting an attack on Iran. Also, some of the documents about Iran mock President Amhadinejad by calling him Hitler. While this moniker is well deserved, reading that he has been described that way could certainly send Amhadinejad into a rage and who knows what that could cause?

How duplicitous of King Abdullah to ask for war in private but deny it in public. America has quite enough wars already thank you. Our country would like to see some peace. While the leader of Iran is a threat to peace, instigating a war without provocation against our country is something most Americans hope will never occur again.

We've wasted billions of dollars on futile wars. If Saudi Arabia wants Iran attacked they've got the cash to do it. Don't drag America into the Iran imbroglio.

Also, the cables indicate that individuals in Saudi Arabia are still the major donors to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. It is odd indeed that Saudi Arabia wants us to attack Iran, while members of that country are supporting a terrorist group that attacked us.

This is just one more reason to end America's dependence on foreign oil. Oil money is being used against us. Saudi Arabia has its own agenda and it is not one that is beneficial to America.

Syria: Supplying Weapons to Lebanon

Wikileaks also released information from cables that discussed Syria's ongoing effort to send weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, is described as lying that he would stop arms shipments to Lebanon and then actually continuing to send arms to Hezbollah and including the most modern weaponry to the terrorist organization.

It seems Syria is not a friend to either the United States or Lebanon. Giving weapons to Hezbollah only strengthens a group that seems to be aiming for the destruction of the government in Lebanon. Syria should try to be honest with the world. And it should stop mucking about in Lebanon.

Julian Assange: Bringing Information to the World

Julian Assange describes himself as an "information activist." It seems being an activist is in his genes. His parents were activists too. The Daily Mail reports that Assange's parents were "two peace activists who met at a demonstration against the Vietnam war." That explains a lot about Julian Assange. He was raised in an anti-war environment where taking on a government that starts wars is deemed an all important activity.

In his teenage years Assange was part of an organization of computer hackers named the International Subversives. They were a talented group of hackers. They managed to hack into the computer systems at NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense. Julian Assange studied physics and math in college. He attended the University of Melbourne.

Assange is no longer willing to travel to America. He is certain he would be arrested if he arrives in the USA. He is probably correct in that assumption. Indeed, the USA may even reach out to him wherever he is and arrest or kill him.

The U.S. State Department has demanded that Assange stop releasing confidential documents. The White House has declared Assange's release of the diplomatic cables as "reckless and dangerous action," notes the NY Times. The U.S. government has warned Wikileaks that their release of the cables could place lives at risk.

Wikileaks is believed to have obtained the documents it is releasing from Pfc. Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army. He has now been jailed in the USA. This young soldier set into action an information release that will have world wide impact and bring intense scrutiny to America's diplomatic system.

America Needs Stronger Security on Government Documents

At the least the Wikileaks documents are bringing embarrassment to the USA. How is it possible for our government to have lost control of so many documents? And why are so many of the diplomatic cables full of such snarky language about foreign leaders?

Wikileaks is said to have from 251, 287 cables. There will likely be much more information flowing out of Wikileaks. And this information is changing the world.

Is Assange a hero or a villain? Opinions on that vary strongly.

One thing is certain though, America needs to do a much better job at protecting communications from diplomats. Our nation is losing its security via Wikileaks. President Obama is having his ability to interact with other foreign leaders compromised by the scathing commentary about those leaders in some of the leaked diplomacy cables.

Read the Cables Released by Wikileaks

To read the actual cables released by Wikileaks, go to the search page of the Guardian HERE.

To see one of the cables about Israel and Iran go HERE.

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1333968/WikiLeaks-Diplomatic-crisis-Americas-secret-cables-published-online.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/world/29cables.html?hp