This week Wikileaks, the website dedicated to publishing classified documents, began release of thousands of “diplomatic cables” which transmitted information and assessments from US embassies around the world to the State Department. As was the case when Wikileaks published videos of US troops in Iraq killing unarmed civilians and US military battlefield assessments from Afghanistan, the US government reacted with strong language calling the release “ an attack on the international community” and a “reckless and dangerous action” which endangered diplomats, intelligence professionals and people around the world.
Thus far the damage seems to be mostly political and diplomatic. Dispatches from embassy officials which classified foreign leaders as “Robin to Putin’s Batman” (Dmitry Medvedev), “Flabby old chap” (Kim Jong Il), “the crazy old man” (Robert Mugabe) and “penchant for partying” (Silvio Berlusconi) will probably not endear these officials to the leaders that they must interact with.
The general theme that seems to run through the dispatches when they are compared to stated US policy is that if their lips are moving US diplomats and administration officials are probably lying. This is not a new revelation. In his book “A Peace to End All Peace” which the chronicles the efforts of Britain and France to carve up the Ottoman Empire after WW I. David Fromkin describes British diplomat Mark Sykes as “an innocent: he believed people meant what they said.” Everyone in the diplomatic game will now be more skeptical of what they are told.
Media pundits have made a big deal of the dispatches which describe efforts by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, UAE, and Bahrain to encourage the US to start a war with Iran. This release will likely cause serious issues for these undemocratic authoritarian regimes whose policies do not reflect the views of their people. While the governments have expressed grave concerns about the threat of a nuclear capable Iran, a recent University of Maryland/Zogby International poll shows that 57% of those polled in these Arab countries believe that if Iran acquired nuclear weapons it would be a positive outcome for the region. 77% of those polled believe the US poses the biggest threat. (Right behind Israel at 88%)
The good news is that, thus far, the Obama administration has resisted these calls for war. Let’s hope that common sense continues to prevail.
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