Wikileaks Drops the Big One (continued)
Posted: November 28, 2010 Filed under: Diplomacy Nightmares, Live | Tags: Wikileaks 68 CommentsThe Wikileaks U.S. diplomatic documents dropped today. The world’s major newspapers have the details as does the Wikileaks site itself. It is becoming more apparent that this is a huge amount of data.
US diplomats are alleged to have been requested by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to spy on the diplomats of other countries at the United Nations. That was the purpose of the “National Humint Collection Directive,” which has been seen by SPIEGEL. The document was signed by Clinton and came into force on July 31, 2009.
The information to be collected included personal credit card information, frequent flyer customer numbers, as well as e-mail and telephone accounts. In many cases the State Department also required “biometric information,” “passwords” and “personal encryption keys.” In the US, the term biometric information generally refers to fingerprints, passport photos and iris scans, among other things.
The US State Department also wanted to obtain information on the plans and intentions of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his secretariat relating to issues like Iran, according to the detailed wish list in the directive. The instructions were sent to 30 US embassies around the world, including Berlin.
The detailed document also reveals which UN issues most interested the US government. These included: “Darfur/Sudan,” “Afghanistan/Pakistan,” Somalia, Iran and North Korea. Other top issues included Paraguay and the Palestinian Territories, eight West African states including Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Senegal, as well as various states in Eastern Europe.
As justification for the espionage orders, Clinton emphasized that a large share of the information that the US intelligence agencies works with, comes from the reports put together by State Department staff around the world.
“SPARE US YOUR EVIL”: The King expressed hope the U.S. would review its Iran policy and “come to the right conclusion.” Brennan responded that President Obama was personally reviewing U.S. Iran policy and wanted to hear the King’s thoughts. Abdullah asserted that Iran is trying to set up Hizballah-like organizations in African countries, observing that the Iranians don’t think they are doing anything wrong and don’t recognize their mistakes. “I said (to Mottaki) that’s your problem,” recounted the King. Abdullah said he would favor Rafsanjani in an Iranian election, were he to run. He described Iran not as “a neighbor one wants to see,” but as “a neighbor one wants to avoid.” He said the Iranians “launch missiles with the hope of putting fear in people and the world.” A solution to the Arab/Israeli conflict would be a great achievement, the King said, but Iran would find other ways to cause trouble. “Iran’s goal is to cause problems,” he continued, “There is no doubt something unstable about them.” He described Iran as “adventurous in the negative sense,” and declared “May God prevent us from falling victim to their evil.” Mottaki had tendered an invitation to visit Iran, but Abdullah said he replied “All I want is for you to spare us your 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.”
The Hill reports the Wikileaks claim that there was a cyber attack on the site prior to release of the data.
Just hours ahead of an expected release of three million classified U.S. documents, the website WikiLeaks said it has been the target of a computer attack.
“We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack,” WikiLeaks tweeted midday Sunday.
Fifteen minutes later, WikiLeaks vowed that it would go ahead with the document dump, which is expected to include State Department cables that Washington fears will wound foreign relations, through its media partners, who received advance access to the documents, if they couldn’t get the site back up in time.
“El Pais, Le Monde, Speigel, Guardian & NYT will publish many US embassy cables tonight, even if WikiLeaks goes down,” WikiLeaks tweeted.
The Guardian site was also briefly down Sunday morning with a 404 error.
Notable Tweets from Notable Tweeters:
benpolitico Ben Smith
RT @tomgara: @arabist nails it: this Wikileaks dump is more significant for the Arab world than it is for the US http://bit.ly/e2tVLM
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
This is awesome. From the leaks we got we now know Iran is a threat and everyone wants them gone,Russia and North Korea are dangerous. We will now pass the START treaty and go to war with Iran. Are we sure wikileaks is not part of a neocon group,because the neocons are very happy to go to war with Iran.
I’ve been skeptical about the leaks too. It seems that all the documents confirm what we already know. That stuff was leaked to journalists. Now we get silly gossip.
One more thing,who knew wh spied on people. I am very shocked.
Not that spying UN diplomats is acceptable, but I don’t know that anyone will be surprised about Hillary Clinton using the UN as a source of intelligence. G.W. was also caught spying UN diplomats before the Iraq War.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norman-solomon/nsa-spied-on-un-diplomats_b_12927.html
I remember reading at the time of the disclosure that most UN diplomats understand that spying at the UN is par for the course.
I feel that this is going to jeopardize many people and puts the US in a bad, bad light. Not so much for the stuff that is said in the memos and cables, cause even though it is not too polite and is gossipy, the opinions of these foreign players really is not the issue…for me at least. I bet the stuff said about these people is common knowledge among the foreign political community.
My concern is with the real meat of these cables…that stuff about secret deals and corruption. Corruption that seems to be widely know, but ignored. Anyway, all of this makes me think of that Seinfeld episode, The Doodle:
Well, I have to admit to feeling pretty gleeful about this. But I don’t see myself as part of an “us” in relation to the corrupt US government.
In my mind, they are oppressing me–spending vast sums of money on endless wars and building military bases all over the world, and undermining my rights through ginned up fear of terrorism. I don’t like that one bit. I’m happy if the wars (including the “WOT”) are undermined.
As far as the reports on Iran, it appears that countries like Israel and Saudi Arabia have tried to pressure the US into bombing Iran. They have selfish, not legitimate reasons–so revealing that makes war with Iran less likely.
I don’t believe the reports of Iran being able to bomb European cities–not for one minute. It’s propaganda.
honk honk!!!
One thing I see is how all these leaders are saying stuff and using things as bargaining chips to get the US to do something that benefits them. No surprise to me…some of this stuff reads like something out of my history books from college.
Just reading their turns of phrase is interesting to me.
Me too 😉
I have not learned anything new,now it is just written down.
How many are shocked that karzi is nuts,merkel does not like risks,we spy,Iran,Russian and NK are threats. Bush screwed most of not all relationships with other countries up,khadafi likes blondes and we like to gossip.
I think the stuff on Turkey is going to shake things up quite a bit. If we did give weapons to Kurdish Turks that could definitely do things to NATO.
Also, the Saudis v. Iranians things … it really shows up in the anti-Persian comments of the Saudi King.
I mean look at this. The Saudis are begging us to bomb Iran more than the Israelis are …
I know. That was news to me, although I knew the Saudis didn’t like Iran. You have to wonder why they’d want another war in the ME.
It doesn’t surprise me. The Saudis and Iran have not been friends since the Iranian Revolution because that uprising threatened the Kingdom of Saud, in the same way the French Revolution threatened other kingdoms in Europe. I think Jordan is also anti-Iran.
A lot of it is ancient history though also. Plus the Sunni/Shia thing. There’s so much ancient lurking history in the middle east.
Yes, I thought that as well, that anti-Persian thing goes deep….way back in their history.
It amounts to racism between the Arabs and Persians. Probably as old as the land they live on. Not to mention the power jealousies between the Saudis and Iranians for influence in the Middle East.
Also religious conflicts: Sunni cannot be happy to see Shiites have the nuclear bomb.
Most of the cables haven’t even been read by the media people yet. This is going to go on for days, so if you don’t want to know more, better turn off the TV and internet and curl up with a good book.
Wikileaks hasn’t even released them all yet. They announced on their site that they’ll be coming out in stages.
right.
Ooooh! How could Slovenia resist?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11858990
You can’t make this sh!t up.
Ack! That wasn’t supposed to nest below BB’s comment. That chance to meet Obama reward was so hilarious; it’s hard to mouse-click accurately when you’re lol-ing.
BB,
you’re absolutely right. I have really decided to spend the day reading Der Spiegel. Most people in the media are reading the stuff like we do.
Some have asked their readers to write them if they found something interesting while reading on their own.
Bostonboomer, do you believe this will have the opposite reaction wikileaks wants? Everyone from the arab counteries and Isreal want Iran attacked. The documents make it seem Iran is bigger threat than anyone thought and now republicans will start obama to attack Iran. Obama cannot say no to republicans,so obama will attack.
I think after the release of all of this stuff, any move towards that will look a lot more naked since it’s obvious that the Saudis have a historical and deep-seated hatred of Persians. If anything, I think it exposes their agenda.
The US isn’t going to ‘attack’, some time back it was leaked that the Israelis were about to attack Iran and were going to be given a clearance over airspace the Saudis, but the leak all but stopped that. Does anyone remember?
Also, it wasn’t clear if the US gave a nod or not.
Oh, clarification, the ‘attack’ was to take out Iran’s nuclear plants as best as I can recall.
Here’s a kewl response for that one.
also from the wikileaks documents
more from the same link:
Jill,
No, I don’t believe Obama will attack Iran. And I don’t believe that’s what Wikileaks wants. I think their goal is to let people know what their “leaders” are up to, and I’m very happy about it. So is Daniel Ellsberg, and I respect his opinion.
I agree it would be obvious,but they will just say we have to do this for Isreal.
Obama would look too much like a Saudi tool now if he did try to attack. And Obama wants it all about him.
That’s what I’m thinking …
I agree. It won’t aid an attack but it may stop one. Hard to act in the sunshine.
I don’t know how I feel about this. Is it common practice to use state as a clandestine information gathering unit? I doubt SoS Clinton needs tacit authorization to sign that document, but is it possible that a primary challenge is in jeopardy because of this? Will this hamper the peace process that is in such a fragile state? Will Iran use this information to rally its conservatives to follow NK lead and pursue nukes?
What a way to end the Thanksgiving holiday….
Hillary 2012
Hillary has always been more hawkish than the Stevensonian Democrats. The Hillary in the diplomatic cables is the same that ran for presidency in 2008.
Hillary was carrying out Obama’s continuation of Bush’s spying on the UN. Take a look at this info:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11858990
Least that’s how I interpret it.
it looks that way
It’s Obama’s policy. Hillary just carries it out.
Truth is, everyone spies on everyone. It’s just a matter of degree.
Oh and dak, those sweet potato biscuits are great!!!!! I made some this afternoon and with a honey butter spread, fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!!
Terrific!!! Glad you liked them!!!
The Nation apologizes to John Tyner for the smear piece.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/156700/apology-john-tyner
An apology by KVH, no less.
Uh-huh.
Maybe this was already discussed on the other thread:
From Der Spiegel
I believe a soldier, Bradley Manning sent the documents to wikileaks. I think it’s difficult to stop a whistleblower.
No, the NYT said they got the material from someone else with knowledge of the leaks.
WikiLeaks is down again, but accessible here so says a tweet.
http://cablegate.wikileaks.org/
Leslie Nielsen has died at 84 in Florida.
I just saw this. He was fantastic…I even liked him in those Tammy movies with Debbie Reynolds. Whenever things get bad, I always pop in Airplane or Naked Gun to laugh my ass off…and get some humorous relaxation away from the crap of everyday life. RIP
I just remember him from when I was a kid and they’d run Swamp Fox on the wonderful world of Disney. I was really really little at the time but I remember because it was the first show–well that and Bonanza–that I got to see on a color tv.
From “Airplane”:
Nielsen: “Captain, how soon can you land?”
Captain: “I can’t tell.”
Nielsen: “You can tell me, I’m a doctor.”
RIP Leslie Nielsen. And thanks for the many laughs.
Loved Mr. Nielson; he was very funny AND very kind.
RIP.
Tidbit: His older brother, Erik Nielsen (1924–2008), was Deputy Prime Minister of Canada during the 1980s.
While obama plays basketball,hillary has to face her counterparts and the foreign media.
“Source: Reuters
Amid a global uproar over WikiLeaks’ release of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton begins a trip to Central Asia and the Middle East on Monday, during which she may personally feel some heat from affronted allies.
The State Department on Sunday formally announced Clinton’s trip, which takes take her first to Kazakhstan where world leaders including Russian President Dmitry Medevedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also expected to attend a summit of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
In an illustration of the potential awkwardness, one cable is reported by Britain’s Guardian newspaper as describing Medvedev as being in a partnership with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in which he “plays Robin to Putin’s Batman.”
=snip=
Clinton’s November 30-December 3 trip was planned before Sunday’s release of sensitive U.S. diplomatic communications provided by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, which revealed sensitive U.S. views on foreign leaders, terrorism and nuclear proliferation in an embarassing blow to U.S. diplomacy.”
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AR3RD20101128
This thing from The Hill is Interesting
Claire McCaskill got all George Bushie and started talking about ‘this’ person’s PATRIOTISM (the high up LEAK suspected in the Cables Leak)…but of course George Bush and Dick Cheney going into a WAR knowing there were NO WMDs is never questioned, nor the fact that those in power talk about being in these wars for decades to come.
Why doesn’t Claire McCaskill say she supports the WARS and a WAR TAX, instead of trying to take money from Social Security, as that was the second part her and Lindsey Graham were discussing.
She was trying to distance herself from Obama but didn’t do a very good job.
“#WikiLeaks & #JulianAssange Is A Threat To #GlobalSecurity That Must Be Dealt With!” http://tiny.cc/9qocv #FoxNews #Assange #US #CableGate
…………….
Interesting when FOX NEWS starts to beat the DEATH DRUMS for WikiLeaks and Assange and all but forgets Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban…Oh, I keep forgetting the Taliban are supposed to be engaged in TALKS with the Afghan President and the Obama Administration.
I’m just hoping this does the War against Terror in like the Pengtagon Papers did the War against Vietnam in …
Those TALKS were with an impostor!! Bwahahaha
yeah, that was incredibly embarrassing and so unreported.
From the Brad Blog:
JFK in ’61:
“No President should fear public scrutiny of his program.”
Take that, Mr. (would-be JFK redux) President!