Reading the news yesterday, I swear I could hear the faint but haunting sound of Julian Assange cackling gleefully while swimming the backstroke in an enormous pile of cable papers.
Wikileaks, Assange’s whistleblower website, began the release of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables to the New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde and El Pais on Sunday. According to Foreign Policy, “Wikileaks published 226 cables on its website, and plans a phased release of the rest of the documents, with each new release focusing on a new country or topic.” The NYT reported that the dump, “provides an unprecedented look at back-room bargaining by embassies around the world, brutally candid views of foreign leaders and frank assessments of nuclear and terrorist threats.”
Some of the countries implicated in the Wikileaks fiasco this time around? Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, North Korea, South Korea and (drum roll please) Pakistan.
In a recent interview, Assange said Wikileaks is performing a “public service,” noting,
The cables show the U.S. spying on its allies in the UN, turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse. If citizens in a democracy want their governments to reflect their wishes, they should ask to see what’s going on behind the scenes.
I am all for transparency, but the Wikileaks fiasco seems to take that notion to a whole new level. First, many of the revelations weren’t as earth-shattering as they claimed to be, not even reports of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah advising the U.S. to take action against Iran, telling them in 2008 “to cut off the head of the snake.”
Anyone interested in Middle East politics knows this is not all together surprising. Arab countries have been threatened by the power of Iran and its proxies in the region for some time, and the strategic chess game that has ensued mostly plays out behind the scenes, for the sake of diplomacy. The statement has therefore become significant because it was made public, not because of what was actually said.
King Abdullah also had some words about our very own President Zardari, calling him the greatest obstacle to progress last year. According to the cable, “When the head is rotten, it affects the whole body.”
Ouch. Not to be outdone, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed said last year that Zardari was “dirty but not dangerous,” while PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was “dangerous but not dirty,” and could not be trusted to honor his promises.
Other less than diplomatic comments? Dmitry Medvedev: “Robin to Putin’s Batman.” Kim Jong-Il: “Flabby old chap.” Silvio Berlusconi: “Penchant for partying hard means he does not get sufficient rest.” [Berlusconi defended himself today, saying he doesn’t attend “wild parties” but hosts “dignified and elegant dinner parties.” Er yeah.]
The cattiness is eerily reminiscent of Mean Girls, when Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan wrote horrible things about other girls in high school in a Burn Book. When the contents of said book were revealed, all hell broke loose. (And yes, I just compared foreign dignitaries to high school mean girls.)
But the Wiki-Burn-Book won’t necessarily result in more transparency in the future, if this is indeed Assange’s objective. So far, most U.S. officials haven’t responded to the leak with promises of future transparency, they’ve replied with calls to make sure such a breach doesn’t happen again in the future. According to Al Jazeera English, “The White House also directed government agencies to tighten procedures for handling classified information after the mass leak.”
Ambassador Munter, the new U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, emphasized in The News yesterday, “For our part, the U.S. government is committed to maintaining the security of our diplomatic communications and is taking steps to make sure they are kept in confidence. We are moving aggressively to make sure this kind of breach does not happen again.” He also noted,
An act intended to provoke the powerful may instead imperil the powerless. We support and are willing to have genuine debates about pressing questions of public policy. But releasing documents carelessly and without regard for the consequences is not the way to start such a debate.
The revelation that the U.S. has secretly been pushing to help Pakistan remove highly enriched uranium from nuclear reactors since 2007, “fearing it could be diverted for illicit purposes,” is likely to have such consequences. Moeed Yusuf, South Asia adviser to the U.S. Institute of Peace told me today,
Many casual readers in Pakistan may conclude from the leaks that the U.S. has been trying to manipulate Pakistani authorities – that is the last thing Washington wants at this point. Specifically on the nuclear program, what has been revealed is not earth shattering but that is not how it will be presented to the man on the street in Pakistan. This will likely fuel even more conspiracy theories in the country.
So, Wikileaks, a force for the greater good? That’s for you to discuss.
You picked on two of my favorite people: Elvish folks and Assange. I shan’t forgive you, Kalsoom. I shan’t.
I picked it just for you. MK ❤ JA 4EVA.
CHUP! <
FYI
US embassy cables: Diplomats bemoan Bin Laden's 'folk hero' status
HOWEVER, WE BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A LARGE MIDDLE GROUND, IN PAKISTAN AND IN AFGHANISTAN, WHICH IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY ANTI- U.S./ANTI-WESTERN AND WHICH IS NOT IDEOLOGICALLY COMMITTED TO UBL AND HIS PAN- ISLAMIST REVOLUTION. THIS MIDDLE GROUND, SOMEWHAT SUSCEPTIBLE TO REASON, OR AT LEAST TO OTHER INFORMATION, SHOULD BE OUR PRIMARY TARGET. THE MESSAGE CRAFTED FOR THEM WOULD ALSO BE WELCOMED BY THE EDUCATED, WESTWARD- LOOKING ELITE OF BOTH PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN WHO FEEL THREATENED BY UBL'S ADVOCACY OF VIOLENCE AND THEOLOGICAL OBSCURANTISM.
9. (C) A NON-USG-IDENTIFIED WEB SITE COULD ALSO BE CREATED TO POST THE ABOVE MATERIAL AND THE URL WIDELY DISTRIBUTED. ALTHOUGH THIS WOULD APPEAR TO BE COUNTER-INTUITIVE — THAT THE MASSES DON'T USE THE INTERNET — ALMOST ALL ISLAMIC AND ISLAMIST GROUPS DO INDEED HAVE INTERNET ACCESS AND USE IT EXTENSIVELY.
Khadim e Harmain e Shareefain > King Abdullah needs a separate blog post on his pious role in the region. Not surprisingly, the local media remained silent on this issue as reported in Cafe Piyala, like writing anything against him (or stating the truth in this case) will be blasphemous 😛
But one thing is evident here, the Muslim Ummah has a bully who likes to meddle in other country affairs like the infamous super power. But the ummah doesn’t like to talk about it because nobody wants a fatwa on their heads (shame!).
I think it’s no secret that Saudi Arabia is the wannabe “kingpin” of this region – and it seems to be a constant turf war for influence with Iran, whose proxies in places like Lebanon and Iraq are considered a threat to the status quo. From an academic perspective, the chess game for influence and power is pretty fascinating, but from a more realistic perspective it speaks to exactly what you’re saying- that Saudi is a “bully” that meddles in other country’s affairs in order to further its own power agenda.
When will the king realize that Zardari called him an elder brother to the head which is rotten?
I strongly disagree with you kalsoom the next kingpin of Muslim world is Turkey not Saudi Arabia
I didn’t see Saudi Arabia is the “next” kingpin, I said they were the “wannabe” kingpin, as in, they want to be the king pin. I didn’t say they were or I didn’t say they would be – but it’s a big reason why they meddle in so many affairs and see Iran as a threat.
Whoever the next Kingpin is, I hope we have a govt. that puts Pakistan’s interests first and not cuddling up to China/Iran/S.Arabia/USA/Whoever the next big gun is… have we lost all self respect? Why do these Gulf Arabians feel they can come and tell us what to do? It is very frustrating to see this go on!
http://tribune.com.pk/story/84306/return-to-pakistan-uae-throws-weight-behind-musharraf/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/saudis-distrust-pakistan-embassy-cables
from the above article
“We in Saudi Arabia are not observers in Pakistan, we are participants,” the Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubeir, boasted in 2007. A senior US official later bemoaned as “negative” the Saudi influence.
It seems everyone else has control of Pakistan or is at least trying to except for us, the Pakistani people – It seems that every previous govt. has sold our mother to the highest bidder…
I am surprised how his conviction is being pilitically hyped, so much that Sweden had issued an Interpol Red Notice for his sex-offence. I feel it to be very surprising for a European country to chase down a sex-offender (though his offence is not entirely his fault) with such strong intent.
Things are getting really complicated here.
In addition, i would love if you could drop a few of your comments to my blog as well.
http://blog-bilo.blogspot.com/2010/12/leak-gate-eye-opener.html