Diplomatic WikiLeaks

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » 03 Dec 2010, 22:29

Don't look! says the State Department. Let's just pretend it's not out there.

http://www.arabist.net/blog/2010/12/2/s ... of-wi.html

Isn't that what the Chinese government tells its citizens?

And it gets more 1984 by the hour:

"News of the ban was first reported by the Washington Post.

The commerce department, in an email circulated to employees on Monday, said the WikiLeaks material remained classified and "is NOT authorised for downloading, viewing, printing, processing, copying or transmitting" on government computers or communication devices.

It warned anyone downloading the WikiLeaks material: "Accessing the WikiLeaks documents will lead to sanitisation of your PC to remove any potentially classified information from your system, and the result in possible data loss."

The education department said any employees who had already looked at the material should contact their internet technology department. An internal email said that IT staff "will work with you to remediate your device".

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 04 Dec 2010, 00:37

Staff "will work with you to remediate your deviancy"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 04 Dec 2010, 09:36

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 04 Dec 2010, 09:57

That WikiLeak moment...

...it was as much the sense of a curtain lifting to reveal the world leaders not as wizards but as all too human, and that the private positions of those in power were often diametrically opposed to what they said in public, that made the cables so gripping – and perhaps so dangerous.

How WikiLeaks altered the way we see the world in just a week

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » 04 Dec 2010, 09:58

There are issues around the .org site hosting, but WL is not down:

http://www.wikileaks.info

http://www.wikileaks.ch

John Perry Barlow (founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation) yesterday put out an appeal for more mirror sites.

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » 04 Dec 2010, 10:03

foodimista wrote:That WikiLeak moment...

...it was as much the sense of a curtain lifting to reveal the world leaders not as wizards but as all too human, and that the private positions of those in power were often diametrically opposed to what they said in public, that made the cables so gripping – and perhaps so dangerous.

How WikiLeaks altered the way we see the world in just a week

Also a good piece by David Samuels in The Atlantic yesterday, looking at the journalism issues.

http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... nge/67440/

I think the special quality of the material is that US diplomat will not lie unto US diplomat - there's no PR spin, no written for public consumption aspect. It's frank assessments, what people really think. That's refreshing, when we normally have to put up with so much doublespeak.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 04 Dec 2010, 10:07

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » 04 Dec 2010, 10:14

Interesting piece in the FT today

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d3dd7c40-ff15 ... z177nfucrH

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » 04 Dec 2010, 10:26

TroubledTimes wrote:
I am now getting the insurance file, 1.4gb, but will have to wait for the password from Wiki of course. I think it's in everyone's interest to at least grab while we can, whatever we can, so it negates the use for a website at all.

The cables text file is on the Pirate Bay with 100+ seeders i.e. you don't need any of the websites to grab the cables text file. It is well and truly out in the wild.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 04 Dec 2010, 10:40

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 04 Dec 2010, 11:20

WikiLeaks Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/wikileaks

Currently 'Liked' by 625,000+ people and increasing rapidly.

jonny2mad · Post by **jonny2mad** » 04 Dec 2010, 11:48

Why are they leaking this stuff? is it in anyones interest to know that the Chinese might be happy for a unified Korea under south Korean leadership.

Is it just leaking for the sake of leaking

woodpecker · Post by **woodpecker** » 04 Dec 2010, 11:57

I think it's interesting to be able to read the 124 cables that document every step in the US government's campaign of pressure over six years to get the Spanish parliament to pass certain laws in US interests (using a variety of threats).

contadino · Post by **contadino** » 04 Dec 2010, 12:10

jonny2mad wrote:Why are they leaking this stuff? is it in anyones interest to know that the Chinese might be happy for a unified Korea under south Korean leadership.

Well, I guess it's vaguely interesting to the 75 million Koreans.

Then there is the impact of potentially not having a war on the balance sheets of arms manufacturers, and all those with pension funds that hold shares in them.

And companies who have, or are considering, business on the Korean peninsular.

Lord Beria3 · Post by **Lord Beria3** » 04 Dec 2010, 12:33

A common myth is that arms suppliers want war, quite the contrary. The situation with the Koreas is perfect for arms suppliers; a decades long Cold War (which means that there is a high demand for arms) but not a actual 'hot' war.

Leftwing types never get this. The Cold War was wonderful for the arms industry, decades of sabre rattling and defence spending but no actual wars (at last in Europe).