WikiLeaks Cables on Egypt

WikiLeaks Cables and Websites News Updates

Diplomatic cables sent from American diplomats in Cairo — 2,752 are in the collection obtained by the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks – provide crucial background on the people and institutions in Egypt's government during the current struggle for the country's future.

They also show American officials' close ties to the government of President Hosni Mubarak, despite occasional discomfort with his autocratic rule.

During a 2009 visit from Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered an analysis of Iraq that reflected both his fear of Iran and his doubts about democracy, according to a previously unpublished cable.

"Senator McConnell asked if the United States had made it easier for Iran by removing Saddam," the cable reported. "'Yes, removing Saddam from power was the biggest mistake ever committed,'" Mr. Mubarak replied.

The Egyptian leader said the Iraqi people "are are tough and bloody, and they need a very tough leader. They will not be submissive to a democratic leader."

Other cables offer revealing portraits of Omar Suleiman, the longtime intelligence chief, now promoted to vice president and overseeing talks with opposition figures, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister. Cables make clear how the Mubarak regime has long used the putative threat of Islamic radicalism from the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group, to warn the United States not to push too hard for democracy in Egypt. And the cables shed light on Egypt's role in countering Hamas in Gaza and helping to manage Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Continue Reading Here:

Dave Lindahl Scam

WikiLeaks: 1 Percent of Trove Published

WikiLeaks has published just 1 percent of its massive trove of US diplomatic documents

Nearly two months after WikiLeaks outraged the U.S. government by launching the release of a massive compendium of diplomatic documents, the secret-spilling website has published 2,628 U.S. State Department cables — just over 1 percent of its trove of 251,287 documents.

Here's a look at what the consequences of the cables' release has been so far, and what the future could hold for WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks has given the world's public an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at U.S. diplomacy. Among the most eye-catching revelations were reports that Arab countries had lobbied for an attack on Iran, China had made plans for the collapse of its North Korean ally, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had ordered U.S. diplomats to gather the computer passwords, fingerprints and even DNA of their foreign counterparts.

Some of the most controversial cables dealt with a directive to harvest biometric information on a range of officials. U.S. diplomats have been forced repeatedly to deny spying on their counterparts — although none have specifically addressed the instructions to gather personal details, sensitive computer data, and even genetic material or iris scans.

Anthony Cordesman, an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, cautioned that some cables were less explosive when taken in the context they were written. He noted that Arab belligerence toward Tehran has festered for years — and suggested the rhetoric was being ratcheted up at a time of high tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

As for the cables on scooping up fingerprints, frequent flyer numbers, and other personal information, Cordesman said that "there isn't a diplomatic service in the world that doesn't serve its intelligence community."

Dave Lindahl Scam

WikiLeaks Today

CIA launches task force on WikiLeaks.

The CIA has launched a task force to assess the impact of unauthorised publication of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables by the whistle—blower website WikiLeaks on the agency’s foreign relationships and operations.

Called WikiLeaks task Force or WTF, it is focused on the immediate impact of the most recently released files, The Washington Post reported.

“One issue is whether the agency’s ability to recruit informants could be damaged by declining confidence in the US government’s ability to keep secrets,” it said.

“The (CIA) Director asked the task force to examine whether the latest release of WikiLeaks documents might affect the agency’s foreign relationships or operations,” CIA spokesman George Little told the daily.

The panel is being led by the CIA’s Counter—intelligence Centre but has more than two dozen members from departments across the agency, the report said.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman P J Crowley said America’s relationship with other countries is based on mutual interests, which are unchanged by any document that has been released by WikiLeaks.

“We are going to do this one day at a time, one action at a time,” he said, adding that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to have regular contacts either in person or in phone calls with world leaders.

“This issue comes up, and without exception, the leaders reassure her that notwithstanding whatever ripples have been created by these revelations, that our relations with these countries will continue because they’re important,” he said.

Read more:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange seeks bail

Julian Assange still committed to publishing secret documents.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told his mother from his prison cell in London that he remained committed to publishing secret U.S. cables, despite condemnation from Washington and elsewhere, Australian television reported on Tuesday.

Australia's Network Seven asked Christine Assange to ask her 39-year-old son one question during a visit to his London jail: Was it worth it?

"My convictions are unfaltering. I remain true to the ideals I have expressed. This circumstance shall not shake them," said Assange, according to his mother who supplied the network with a written statement of her son's answer.

"If anything this process has increased my determination that they are true and correct."

WikiLeaks has provoked fury in Washington with its publications of secret U.S. cables and has vowed to make public

the 250,000 embassy documents it had obtained.

Assange is under arrest in Britain over sexual assault charges in Sweden.

Assange was also critical of the major finance companies who suspended payments to his WikiLeaks site.

"We now know that Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and others are instruments of U.S. foreign policy. It's not something we knew before," he said.

"I am calling for the world to protect my work and my people from these illegal and immoral attacks."

Internet activists launched "Operation Payback" to avenge WikiLeaks against those perceived to have obstructed its operations. They temporarily brought down the websites of credit card firms Visa and MasterCard, as well as that of the Swedish government, last week.

Christine Assange told her son there was worldwide support for him.

"I told him how people from all over the world, all sorts of countries were standing up with placards and screaming out for his freedom and justice and he was very heartened by that," she said. "As a mother I am asking the world to stand up for my brave son."

Lawyers for Assange will try again on Tuesday to win bail for the WikiLeaks founder. Assange was accused this year of sexual misconduct by two female Swedish WikiLeaks volunteers during a stay in Sweden. Assange denies the allegations.

Assange and his lawyers have voiced fears that U.S. prosecutors may be preparing to indict him for espionage after the WikiLeaks website published secret U.S. documents.

Source:

WikiLeaks website

WikiLeaks website blocked behind Chinese firewall

WikiLeaks News Updates! China, one of the biggest Internet policers, took no chances with the latest online sensation and blocked the WikiLeaks website Wednesday amid potentially embarrassing claims made in leaked U.S. diplomatic memos posted there.

Attempts to access wikileaks.org and cablegate.wikileaks.org were met with a notice saying the connection had been reset, or were diverted the user to popular Chinese search engine Baidu. That's the standard response when the connection to an overseas-based website has been cut.

The U.S. Embassy memos — called cables, though they are mostly encrypted electronic communication — contain some frank talk about and attributed to Chinese figures and their North Korean allies.

In one, a Chinese diplomat is quoted describing North Korea as a "spoiled child" for attempting to win U.S. attention with a provocative missile test.

China's representative to six-nation disarmament talks, meanwhile, is described by a South Korean diplomat as an "arrogant, Marx-spouting former Red Guard who 'knows nothing about North Korea, nothing about nonproliferation.'"

Another memo reveals details of a Chinese contingency plan for North Korea's collapse — the existence of which is likely to drive a wedge between the allies at the very least.

The leaks also claimed that leadership of China's ruling Communist Party directed a cyber-intrusion into Google's computer systems
, and expressed concern over attempts by Iranian front companies to obtain Chinese nuclear technology.

It wasn't clear when the blocks were imposed, although a vast swath of the Internet is inaccessible behind China's firewall, including social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Human rights and political dissent-themed sites are also routinely banned, although technologically savvy users can easily jump the so-called "Great Firewall" with proxy servers or other alternatives.

China's government has taken a low-key approach to the leaks, with the Foreign Ministry saying it would not comment on specific assertions in the cables.

"China takes note of relevant reports. We hope the U.S. side will properly handle the relevant issue. As for the content of the documents, we do not comment on that," ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Global Times, a provocative tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party mouthpiece Peoples Daily, labeled the disclosure a "nefarious slander against China."

It also wondered why the U.S. didn't block the posting of the leaks, saying that raised questions as to whether it had reached some form of tacit understanding with WikiLeaks.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that WikiLeaks acted illegally in posting the documents. Officials around the world have said the disclosure jeopardizes national security, diplomats, intelligence assets and relationships between foreign governments.

The massive leaks were "embarrassing" and "awkward," but the consequences for American foreign policy should be limited, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.

Read more: