Reading these documents today, I can only feel that this whole Wikileaks cable dump is truly explosive, of historical dimensions and seems to be devastating for US foreign policy. What it all means, and how it has been achieved will take more time to fully understand.
I am finding all kinds of interesting passages not even mentioned in the AFP article below such as the Saudi King Abdullah's request that "America restore it's credibility in the world" with Obama reassuring the King that "America is a great country and we know what we have to do."
Of course this all seems ludicrous right now
From AFP
WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks has divulged a secret list compiled by Washington of key infrastructure sites around the world that could pose a critical danger to US security if they come under terrorist attack.
The newly released diplomatic cable is one of the most explosive yet out of many leaked by the whistle-blowing website that have heaped embarrassment on Washington and caused anger around the world.
Among other revelations, the latest WikiLeaks document dump showed Australia's then leader Kevin Rudd warning US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that force might be needed against China "if everything goes wrong".
Also among the new US State Department destroying revelations:
- One cable said Saudi Arabia was the key source of funding for radical Islamist groups including Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas.
-- Gulf states Qatar and Kuwait are lax in pursuing locals who donated to the groups, according to the cable dated December 2009.
-- Qatar is using the Arabic TV news channel Al-Jazeera as a bargaining chip in negotiations with other countries, despite the broadcaster's insistence that it is editorially independent.
-- Clinton views Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as a "behind-the-scenes puppeteer" who chafes at his role working alongside President Dmitry Medvedev.
Read more from the article.
See the cables themselves.
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