Glenn Greenwald: What WikiLeaks revealed to the world in 2010

[Better Believe It]

What WikiLeaks revealed to the world in 2010
December 24, 2010

Throughout this year I've devoted substantial attention to WikiLeaks, particularly in the last four weeks as calls for its destruction intensified. To understand why I've done so, and to see what motivates the increasing devotion of the U.S. Government and those influened by it to destroying that organization, it's well worth reviewing exactly what WikiLeaks exposed to the world just in the last year: the breadth of the corruption, deceit, brutality and criminality on the part of the world's most powerful factions.

As revealing as the disclosures themselves are, the reactions to them have been equally revealing. The vast bulk of the outrage has been devoted not to the crimes that have been exposed but rather to those who exposed them: WikiLeaks and (allegedly) Bradley Manning. A consensus quickly emerged in the political and media class that they are Evil Villains who must be severely punished, while those responsible for the acts they revealed are guilty of nothing. That reaction has not been weakened at all even by the Pentagon's own admission that, in stark contrast to its own actions, there is no evidence -- zero -- that any of WikiLeaks' actions has caused even a single death. Meanwhile, the American establishment media -- even in the face of all these revelations -- continues to insist on the contradictory, Orwellian platitudes that (a) there is Nothing New™ in anything disclosed by WikiLeaks and (b) WikiLeaks has done Grave Harm to American National Security™ through its disclosures.

It's unsurprising that political leaders would want to convince people that the true criminals are those who expose acts of high-level political corruption and criminality, rather than those who perpetrate them. Every political leader would love for that self-serving piety to take hold. But what's startling is how many citizens and, especially, "journalists" now vehemently believe that as well. In light of what WikiLeaks has revealed to the world about numerous governments, just fathom the authoritarian mindset that would lead a citizen -- and especially a "journalist" -- to react with anger that these things have been revealed; to insist that these facts should have been kept concealed and it'd be better if we didn't know; and, most of all, to demand that those who made us aware of it all be punished (the True Criminals) while those who did these things (The Good Authorities) be shielded:

TRANSLATION: U.S. maneuvered to stop High Court cases: American embassy issued threats over the cases of 'Guantanamo', 'Couso' and 'CIA flights' - Politicians and Spanish prosecutors collaborated on the strategy

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/24/wikileaks/index.html

[Overseas]

1. K&R ! //nt

[FreakinDJ]

2. K&R ..... [phone] 000 000 000 000 000 000 .00

[Better Believe It]

3. That's a lot!!! Don't crash the system! And have a great holiday season.

:)

[Enthusiast]

13. Holiday? I hope you meant Christmas.

:wtf:

[Better Believe It]

15. That too! And also festivux for the rest of us!

:)

[TheMadMonk]

19. Does this cover it?

.html

[molly77]

26. Glenn Greenwald

Thank you for this post and your time investigating WikiLeaks. Also Jane Hampsher for bringing attn. to the plight of Bradley Manning.

[Delphinus]

31. I'll second that.

Thank you Glenn Greenwald!

[xchrom]

4. Impressive indeed. Nt

[FrancisTreptoe]

5. And lets hope 2011 will be a better year for exposing lies.

[cutlassmama]

9. +1

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Better Believe It.

[malaise]

67. A super thread

Happy Holidays Uncle Joe :hi:

[Uncle Joe]

98. I just saw your post for the first time.

A belated Happy Holidays to you, malaise.:hi:

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jberryhill]

8. That's an interesting phrase, can you explain what it means?

The one beginning with "B"

[Gregorian]

10. Exactly what I've been thinking. Pay not attention to the man behind the curtain. Kill the messenger

Part of this whole mess is how effective Fox un-news has been at dividing. Confuse, divide, and then the masses are useless at making true progress against the powerful controllers.

[lunatica]

11. Thanks to wikilieaks we can finally see some truth

[EFerrari]

12. This is one of the best pieces Greenwald has put up.

Exactly.

[Soylent Brice]

23. i agree, but we as a society...

...well,

the band plays on.

[girl gone mad]

14. Just a bunch of insignificant gossip.

:sarcasm:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. But..but...it's soooo embarrassing to our peace loving and transparent government!

Well, sorta peace loving and transparent, sometimes, when it's convenient.

[egoclothes]

17. K and R. Thank you for the post.

[slay]

18. K&R

finally - real news again and not - TONIGHT, A kitten fell in a drain - watch the dramatic rescue! :puke:

Wikileaks is showing the world what's it's like to be journalists against and talk about actual important shit.

[Kurovski]

20. K&R. (nt)

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Wilms]

22. Up.

[jimlup]

24. K&R

:kick:

[bengalherder]

25. k&r n/t

[snappyturtle]

27. Long live Wikileaks! K&R nt

[emanymton]

28. In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

.

George Orwell

Ema Nymton
~@:o?
The LEFT - taking shit for being right since long before you were born.
.

[Vinnie From Indy]

29. K&R

Greenwald is an American treasure!

[Norrin Radd]

30. But I thought it was all

just going to be petty gossip, nothing-to-see-here, all trifle?

:sarcasm:

[JackRiddler]

32. Great work reproducing that, BBI! Let's add lots more here!

Started compiling some of the stories at a similar thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x57930

Let's add as many as we can to this one so we have an answer to the talking points.

[JackRiddler]

33. The Usual Anti-Wikileaks Talking Points

Talking point #1: "Old News."

No matter how criminal the action, no matter how new the details, avoid any acknowledgement. Whatever "it" is, say everyone knew "it" already (even if they didn't), and try to avoid saying anything about "it."

Do not allow that confirmation of details by way of actual documents is in any way significant. In fact, it is a distraction from __________ (name current issue in the news).

Talking point #2: "Totally unimportant gossip."

Note that those who use either of #1 or #2 never draw the conclusion that the leaks are therefore not a big deal. On the contrary, they are likely to be among those calling for strict repressive measures against Manning and Wikileaks.

Talking point #3: "It shows that US diplomats are good people, doing only good in the world, trying to confront all the bad people from Iran and other enemies."

Let's call this the New York Times spin. Like the rest of the talking points, it requires that no one read the cables! A variation is to pick some crime that the cables don't reveal as evidence of why it's all good. (Mechanics: These cables do not show US officials planning 9/11, or roasting babies on a spit. Therefore they prove accusations against the government are baseless! Thus everyone in the government is good and should be left alone to do whatever they think right in secret forevermore.)

Talking point #4: "Secrecy (at the discretion of the government) is a necessary element for the (name agency) to do good in the world."



Talking point #5: "Extremely dangerous leak! An attack on the world! Terrorism!"

Usually goes together with "Old News" and the contradiction is irrelevant. The point is to hit them with everything available.

Talking point #6: "Assange has funny hair / is albino / is a rapist / is snooty to stupid people / only in it for the thrills / hates America / only in it for the money / wants global chaos / isn't happy when the Swedish leak details of his own case / etc. etc. Assange Assange Assange!"

[JackRiddler]

44. ...WHERE TO RESEARCH THE CABLES YOURSELF...

Where to research the cables (best as I know)


Of the newspaper sites, go with The Guardian. They are a full partner and have been doing constant, massive coverage. (The Times site is a joke and shamelessly spun to minimize releases and maximize pro-war propaganda.)

1. Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-us-embassy-cables

2. Wikileaks new home: http://wikileaks.ch / (go to "cablegate" section)

3. Search-able database of cables that is synched with Wikileaks releases: http://www.dazzlepod.com/cable /

4. Wikileaks the forum: http://www.wikileaksforum.net /

5. Crowdjournalizing the raw cables... very slowly: http://operationleakspin.org /

---

#5 is a wiki site for the cables and actually looks like it will develop into the most interesting.

Some cables and important stories have received first treatment in the Arab press, in Bolivia (which is hosting cables about Bolivia!), in Counterpunch (where they took apart the NY Times attack-Iran spin)... or in this excellent article by Andrew Gavin Marshall on Global Research (but much of the rest of the stuff about Wikileaks there is paranoid stuff in the Alex Jones mode).

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22278

The recent release of the 250,000 Wikileaks documents has provoked unparalleled global interest, both positive, negative, and everywhere in between. One thing that can be said with certainty: Wikileaks is changing things.

There are those who accept what the Wikileaks releases say at face value, largely due to the misrepresentation of the documents by the corporate-controlled news.

There are those who see the documents as authentic and simply in need of proper interpretation and analysis.

Then there are those, many of whom are in the alternative media, who approach the leaks with caution and suspicion.

There are those who simply cast the leaks aside as a ‘psy-op’ designed to target specific nations that fit into U.S. foreign policy objectives. Finally, then, there are those who deplore the leaks as ‘treason’ or threatening ‘security’. Of all the claims and notions, the last is, without a doubt, the most ridiculous. This essay aims to examine the nature of the Wikileaks releases and how they should be approached and understood. If Wikileaks is changing things, let’s hope people will make sure that it changes things in the right direction.

FOLLOW LINK FOR EXCELLENT ARTICLE...

[JackRiddler]

47. ...And remember, everyone, we've only scratched the surface here because...

As of Dec. 25 at http://wikileaks.ch/cablegate.html

Currently released so far... 1897 / 251,287

Still only about 0.7 percent of the total!

Not even those who have the stuff have read everything.

It's safe to guess to we've seen no more than 10-15 percent of the stories likely to come out of this thing. Plus what may be revealed in combinations or as context is filled in and investigations that begin from cables proceed.

[JackRiddler]

34. FAIR Press Release: What We Learn from Wikileaks

EXCERPT:

--The U.S. attempted to prevent German authorities from acting on arrest warrants against 13 CIA officers who were instrumental in the abduction and subsequent torture of German citizen Khaled El-Masri (Scott Horton, Harpers.org, 11/29/10; New York Times, 12/9/10).

--The U.S. worked to obstruct Spanish government investigations into the killing of a Spanish journalist in Iraq by U.S. forces, the use of Spanish airfields for the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program and torture of Spanish detainees at Guantánamo (El Pais, 12/2/10; Scott Horton, Harpers.org, 12/1/10).

--WikiLeaks coverage has often emphasized that Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh reassured U.S. officials that he would claim U.S. military airstrikes in his country were the work of Yemeni forces. But as Justin Elliot pointed out (Salon, 12/7/10), the United States has long denied carrying out airstrikes in the country at all. The secret attacks have killed scores of civilians.

--According to the cables, U.S. Special Forces are actively conducting operations inside Pakistan, despite repeated government denials (Jeremy Scahill, Nation, 12/1/10).

--The U.S. ambassador to Honduras concluded that the 2009 removal of president Manuel Zelaya was indeed a coup, and that backers of this action provided no compelling evidence to support their legal claims (Robert Naiman, Just Foreign Policy, 11/29/10). Despite the conclusions reached in the cable, official U.S. statements remained ambiguous. If the Obama administration had reached the same conclusion in public as was made in the cable, the outcome of the coup might have been very different.

--The U.S. secured a secret agreement with Britain to allow U.S. bases on British soil to stockpile cluster bombs, circumventing a treaty signed by Britain. The U.S. also discouraged other countries from working to ban the weapons, which have devastating effects on civilian populations (Guardian, 12/1/10).

--The U.S. engaged in an array of tactics to undermine opposition to U.S. climate change policies, including bribes and surveillance (Guardian, 12/3/10).

--U.S. diplomats in Georgia were uncritical of that country's claims about Russian interference, a dispute that eventually led to a brief war (New York Times, 12/2/10). U.S. officials "appeared to set aside skepticism and embrace Georgian versions of important and disputed events....as the region slipped toward war, sources outside the Georgian government were played down or not included in important cables. Official Georgian versions of events were passed to Washington largely unchallenged."

--U.S. officials put forward sketchy intelligence as proof that Iran had secured 19 long-range missiles from North Korea--claims that were treated as fact by the New York Times, which subsequently walked back its credulous reporting (FAIR Activism Update, 12/3/10)

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4215

[JackRiddler]

35. 2007: US, YEMEN COOK UP MINI-GULF OF TONKIN AGAINST IRAN

One of the most dangerous and irresponsble incidents so far to come out thanks to the cables is documented by a cable copied to this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9724991#9724991

A US spy drone washed up on shore in Yemen. After a secret complaint from the Yemeni foreign ministry, the US military admitted it was theirs. The Yemenis later lied to the world and claimed this same craft was Iranian! The US played along with the deception. Both nations are guilty of perpetrating a psychological operation aimed at the world public, a very dangerous and irresponsible deception. False accusations like these raise the chances of hostilities breaking out. This is how wars start.

[JackRiddler]

36. 2008: LEBANESE DEFENSE MINISTER OFFERED ADVICE TO ISRAEL ON WHAT TO BOMB

QUOTE:

Lebanon 'gave Israel army tips'

Defence minister offered advice to Israel in 2008 on how to defeat Hezbollah, WikiLeaks documents show.
Last Modified: 08 Dec 2010 04:09 GMT


Murr, right, reportedly said Israel should desist from bombing Christian areas while attacking Hezbollah



Lebanon's defence minister offered advice to Israel in 2008 on how they might defeat Hezbollah, the Shia group based in southern Lebanon, according to US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. The memo, published in Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, showed Elias Murr telling US officials that areas under Hezbollah control would not receive Lebanese forces' protection from attacks. "If Israel has to bomb all of these places in the Shia areas as a matter of operational concern, that is Hezbollah's problem,'' Murr reportedly said.

'Not accurate'

The minister also said that any Israeli attack on Lebanon should avoid bombing Christian areas, to stop public opinion turning against them. "Murr told us that Israel would do well to avoid two things when it comes for Hezbollah," the US officials are quoted as saying. "One, it must not touch the Blue Line or the UNSCR 1701 areas as this will keep Hezbollah out of these areas," said the memo, referring to the border region in southern Lebanon patrolled by UN peacekeepers. "Two, Israel cannot bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas," Murr is cited as stating.

However, Murr said that he was not responsible for passing on messages to Israel.

In the March 10 meeting, Murr added that the Lebanese army would avoid taking part in any future war, but the military would be ready to "take over, once Hezbollah's militia has been destroyed". George Soulage, Murr's principal aide, said Murr had met with Michele Sison, then US ambassador, but refuted the accusation of the leak, stating: "The information posted by WikiLeaks is not complete and is not accurate. "The aim behind this is to sow discord in Lebanon. The cable does not reflect the truth about what happened during the meeting and it has no value."

more
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/12/20101246144971381.html

[JackRiddler]

37. 2005: WASHINGTON ENCOURAGED ARMS TO SOUTH SUDAN EVEN THOUGH IT WAS MAIN ENFORCER OF TREATY BAN

"Washington encouraged the delivery of weapons to South Sudan even though it was the main guarantor of the 2005 peace agreement."

...


This isn't your usual violation of international law by "realists," the kind that many people want to call trivial (or admirable) and forget about.


In this case, the US set itself up as the main enforcer of the 2005 peace agreement that put an end to decades of bloody civil war in Sudan that had cost millions of lives. Then Washington encouraged an egregrious violation: a shipment of Russian tanks set up by an apparent Mossad agent.

Turns out the unwitting good guys in the story were the much-maligned Somali pirates who hijacked the ship and caused the shipment to fail.


Wikileaks documents now provide confirmation... no more denials possible.


http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/wikileaks-confirms-russian-tanks-aboard-hijacked-ship-were-bound-for-south-sudan-1.1073867

WikiLeaks confirms Russian tanks aboard hijacked ship were bound for South Sudan

Sudan: From Fred Bridgeland, Africa Correspondent

12 Dec 2010

The WikiLeaks whistleblower website has confirmed as true a Sunday Herald investigation that found dozens of Russian-made tanks aboard a ship hijacked by Somali pirates were destined for clandestine delivery to the army of the autonomous Government of South Sudan.

Having taken the Ukrainian ship, the MV Faina, in September 2008, the pirates were shocked to find aboard 33 Russian-made T-72 tanks, 42 anti-aircraft guns and more than 800 tonnes of ammunition. The Kenyan government quickly condemned the hijacking of the Faina, saying that its destination was the port of Mombasa and that the tanks had been bought for use by the Kenyan Army.

A Sunday Herald investigation found that there were very few good guys in the saga. The tanks, in addition to at least 67 previously shipped, were in fact destined for delivery to the Government of South Sudan, which put it in breach of Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a 21-year civil war between north and south in which more than 2 million people died.

Classified US State Department cables published by WikiLeaks show not only that the Sunday Herald’s information was right as regards the tanks’ actual destination, but that Washington had encouraged the delivery of weapons to South Sudan even though it was the main guarantor of the peace agreement.

The WikiLeaks revelations about US-approved weapons deliveries come at one of the most delicate times in the history of Sudan...

SNIP

[JackRiddler]

38. 2010 - AUSTRALIA: KEY LABOR POWER BROKER ARBIB OUTED AS US INFORMANT

This fellow Arbib in the Australian Senate was a key player last year in toppling the Rudd government to put in the new PM, Gillard.

Note that Rudd has now expressed support for Assange's right as a citizen, after Gillard had called him a criminal without any charges actually having been brought.

Check out the story and as you read it, switch the nationalities and imagine someone -- oh, Joe Lieberman -- informing the Australian embassy of every move in the power machinations of the Democratic caucus, at a time when the caucus is busy secretly negotiating a switch at the White House. How would you be reacting?! Would you be saying, "Hey, it's routine diplomacy, only hippies whine about it, it should be kept secret!"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/wikileaks/us-espionage-trial-endgame-for-julian-assange/story-fn775xjq-1225967923486

FEDERAL Labor powerbroker Mark Arbib has been outed as a key source of intelligence on government and internal party machinations to the US embassy. New embassy cables, released by WikiLeaks to Fairfax newspapers today, reveal the influential right-wing Labor MP has been one of the embassy's best ALP informants, along with former frontbencher Bob McMullan and current MP Michael Danby.

The documents say the Minister for Sport had been secretly offering details of Labor's inner workings even before his election to the Senate in 2007, dating back to his time as general secretary of the party's NSW branch from 2004. Senator Arbib was one of the "faceless men" who was instrumental in the decision to oust Kevin Rudd and install Julia Gillard as Prime Minister in June.

The documents also identify Senator Arbib as a strong backer of the Australia-US alliance. "He understands the importance of supporting a vibrant relationship with the US while not being too deferential. We have found him personable, confident and articulate," an embassy profile on Senator Arbib written in July last year says. "He has met with us repeatedly throughout his political rise."

The embarrassing revelations come as lawyers for whistleblower Julian Assange say the 39-year-old Australian will not be safe if he is sent to Sweden for trial because the "endgame" of US authorities is to move him there to be charged with espionage.

SNIP

[JackRiddler]

39. 2009: US CONTRACTOR DYNCORP HELPED PIMP CHILDREN FOR SEX

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/12/wikileaks_texas_company_helped.php

QUOTE:

The Afghanistan cable (dated June 24, 2009) discusses a meeting between Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar and US assistant ambassador Joseph Mussomeli. Prime among Atmar's concerns was a party partially thrown by DynCorp for Afghan police recruits in Kunduz Province. Many of DynCorp's employees are ex-Green Berets and veterans of other elite units, and the company was commissioned by the US government to provide training for the Afghani police. According to most reports, over 95 percent of its $2 billion annual revenue comes from US taxpayers.

And in Kunduz province, according to the leaked cable, that money was flowing to drug dealers and pimps. Pimps of children, to be more precise. (The exact type of drug was never specified.) Since this is Afghanistan, you probably already knew this wasn't a kegger. Instead, this DynCorp soiree was a bacha bazi ("boy-play") party, much like the ones uncovered earlier this year by Frontline.

SNIP

So perhaps in the evil world of Realpolitik, in which there is apparently no moral compass US private contractors won't smash to smithereens, it made sense for DynCorp to drug up some Pashtun police recruits and turn them loose on a bunch of little boys. But according to the leaked document, Atmar, the Afghani interior minister, was terrified this story would catch a reporter's ear.

He urged the US State Department to shut down a reporter he heard was snooping around, and was horrified that a rumored videotape of the party might surface. He predicted that any story about the party would "endanger lives." He said that his government had arrested two Afghan police and nine Afghan civilians on charges of "purchasing a service from a child" in connection with the party, but that he was worried about the image of their "foreign mentors," by which he apparently meant DynCorp. American diplomats told him to chill. They apparently had a better handle on our media than Atmar, because when a report of the party finally did emerge, it was neutered to the point of near-falsehood.

MORE AT LINK

[JackRiddler]

43. SHELL'S GRIP ON NIGERIAN STATE REVEALED

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-eritrea-president-asaias-afwerki

Cables from Nigeria show how Ann Pickard, then Shell's vice-president for sub-Saharan Africa, sought to share intelligence with the US government on militant activity and business competition in the contested Niger Delta – and how, with some prescience, she seemed reluctant to open up because of a suspicion the US government was "leaky".

But that did not prevent Pickard disclosing the company's reach into the Nigerian government when she met US ambassador Robin Renee Sanders, as recorded in a confidential memo from the US embassy in Abuja on 20 October 2009. At the meeting, Pickard related how the company had obtained a letter showing that the Nigerian government had invited bids for oil concessions from China. She said the minister of state for petroleum resources, Odein Ajumogobia, had denied the letter had been sent but Shell knew similar correspondence had taken place with China and Russia.

The ambassador reported: "She said the GON had forgotten that Shell had seconded people to all the relevant ministries and that Shell consequently had access to everything that was being done in those ministries."

SNIP

Shell put a request to the US consulate for potentially sensitive intelligence about Gazprom, a possible rival, which she said had secured a promise from the Nigerian government of access to 17trn cubic feet of natural gas – roughly a tenth of Nigeria's entire reserves. "Pickard said that amount of gas was only available if the GON were to take concessions currently assigned to other oil companies and give them to Gazprom. She assumed Shell would be the GON's prime target." Pickard alleged that a conversation with a Nigerian government minister had been secretly recorded by the Russians. Shortly after the meeting in the minister's office she received a verbatim transcript of the meeting "from Russia", according to the memo.

Whom does the US serve here? (Rhetorical question.)


Discussion here:

http://rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30359&start=15#p370335

.

[CanSocDem]

48. Thanks for the additions!! (eom)

[JackRiddler]

49. You're welcome. Hope others add more. Let's make this the biggest thread ever.

[Better Believe It]

55. Thanks for your hard work in adding to the list! And hope you have a terrific Christmas holiday.

Santa came to our home last night!

Norad was tracking him.

Glad they didn't fire a missile thinking he might be a terrorist!

[JackRiddler]

56. THE 25 DAYS OF WIKILEAKS (David Swanson with links to 40+ explosive stories about the cables)

Most of these are not in Greenwald's compilation!

For complete article features, please see original at War is a Crime here.

On the 25th Day of Wikileaks My Government Gave to Me

by David Swanson


On the first day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: the military in every embassy.

On the second day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: two criminal presidents.

On the third day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: three illegal wars.

On the fourth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: four covered up crimes.

On the fifth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: five plutocracies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

On the sixth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: six sycophants (1, 2, 3, 5, 6).[br />
On the seventh day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: seven suicide attacks.

On the eighth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: eight enemy combatants.

On the ninth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me:nine NATO divisions.

On the tenth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: ten years of pollution.

On the eleventh day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: more profits for credit card companies.

On the twelfth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: drug company immunity.

On the thirteenth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: thirteen theocratic thugs.

On the fourteenth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me:yet another war.

On the fifteenth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: fifteen happy followers.

On the sixteenth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: sixteen sadistic sanctions.

On the seventeenth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: seventeen infuriating peace makers.

On the eighteenth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: eighteen months of ignorance.

On the nineteenth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: Bollywood-Pentagon partnerships.

On the twentieth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: corporate muscle for diplomacy.

On the twenty-first day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: black market nukes.

On the twenty-second day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: congressional prostitution.

On the twenty-third day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: twenty-three convicted kidnappers.

On the twenty-fourth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: twenty-four million McDollars.

On the twenty-fifth day of Wikileaks, my government gave to me: killing the messenger.

And 99.25% of the cables were yet to be released.

Kudos to David Swanson for putting that together.

[JackRiddler]

58. STATE DEPARTMENT DELUDED INTO THINKING MICHAEL MOORE'S "SICKO" WAS BANNED IN CUBA!

¡Viva WikiLeaks! SiCKO Was Not Banned in Cuba

by Michael Moore

Yesterday WikiLeaks did an amazing thing and released a classified State Department cable that dealt, in part, with me and my film, 'Sicko.' It is a stunning look at the Orwellian nature of how bureaucrats for the State spin their lies and try to recreate reality (I assume to placate their bosses and tell them what they want to hear).

The date is January 31, 2008. It is just days after 'Sicko' has been nominated for an Oscar as Best Documentary. This must have sent someone reeling in Bush's State Department (his Treasury Department had already notified me they were investigating what laws I might have broken in taking three 9/11 first responders to Cuba to get them the health care they had been denied in the United States).

Former health insurance executive Wendell Potter recently revealed that the insurance industry -- which had decided to spend millions to go after me and, if necessary, "push Michael Moore off a cliff" -- had begun working with anti-Castro Cubans in Miami in order to have them speak out and smear my film. So, on January 31, 2008, a State Department official stationed in Havana took a made up story and sent it back to his HQ in Washington. Here's what they came up with:

XXXXXXXXXXXX stated that Cuban authorities have banned Michael Moore's documentary, "Sicko," as being subversive. Although the film's intent is to discredit the U.S. healthcare system by highlighting the excellence of the Cuban system, he said the regime knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them.

Sounds convincing, eh?! There's only one problem -- the entire nation of Cuba was shown the film on national television on April 25, 2008! The Cubans embraced the film so much so it became one of those rare American movies that received a theatrical distribution in Cuba. I personally ensured that a 35mm print got to the Film Institute in Havana. Screenings of Sicko were set up in towns all across the country. But the secret cable said Cubans were banned from seeing my movie. Hmmm.

We also know from another secret U.S. document that "the disenchantment of the masses has spread through all the provinces," and that "all of Oriente Province is seething with hate" for the Castro regime. There's a huge active underground rebellion, and "workers there readily give all the support they can," with everyone involved in "subtle sabotage" against the government. Morale is terrible throughout all the branches of the armed forces, and in the event of war the army "will not fight." Wow -- this cable is hot! Of course, this secret U.S. cable is from March 31, 1961, three weeks before Cuba kicked our asses at the Bay of Pigs.

The U.S. government has been passing around these "secret" documents to itself for the past fifty years, explaining in painstaking detail how horrible things are in Cuba and how Cubans are quietly aching for us to come back and take over. I don't know why we write these cables, I guess it just makes us feel better about ourselves. (Anyone curious can find an entire museum of U.S. wish fulfillment cables on the website of the National Security Archive.)

So what do you do with about a false "secret" cable, especially one that involves you and your movie? Well, you wait for a responsible newspaper to investigate and shout what it discovers from the rooftops.

But yesterday WikiLeaks gave the 'Sicko' Cuba cable to the media -- and what did they do with it? They ran the it as if it were true! Here's the headline in the Guardian:

WikiLeaks: Cuba banned Sicko for depicting 'mythical' healthcare system

Authorities feared footage of gleaming hospital in Michael Moore's Oscar-nominated film would provoke a popular backlash

And not one scintilla of digging to see if Cuba had actually banned the movie! In fact, just the opposite. The right wing press started to have a field day reporting a lie (Andy Levy of Fox -- twice -- Reason Magazine and Hot Air, plus a slew of blogs). Sadly, even BoingBoing and my friends at the Nation wrote about it without skepticism. So here you have WikiLeaks, who have put themselves on the line to find and release these cables to the press -- and traditional journalists are once again just too lazy to lift a finger, point and click their mouse to log into Nexis or search via Google, and look to see if Cuba really did "ban the film." Had just ONE reporter done that, here's they would have found:

June 16, 2007 Saturday 1:41 AM GMT (that's 7 months before the false cable)

HEADLINE: Cuban health minister says Moore's 'Sicko' shows 'human values' of communist system

BYLINE: By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: HAVANA

Cuba's health minister Jose Ramon Balaguer said Friday that American filmmaker Michael Moore's documentary 'Sicko' highlights the human values of the island's communist-run government... "There can be no doubt this documentary by a personality like Mr. Michael Moore helps promote the profoundly human principles of Cuban society."

Or, how 'bout this little April 25, 2008 notice from CubaSi.Cu (translation by Google):

Sicko premiere in Cuba
25/04/2008

The documentary Sicko, the U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore, which deals about the deplorable state of American health care system will be released today at 5:50 pm, for the space Cubavision Roundtable and the Education Channel.

Then there's this from Juventudrebelde.cu (translation by Google). Or this Cuban editorial (translation by Google). There's even a long clip of the Cuba section of 'Sicko' on the homepage of Media Roundtable on the CubaSi.cu website!

OK, so we know the media is lazy and sucks most of the time. But the bigger issue here is how our government seemed to be colluding with the health insurance industry to destroy a film that might have a hand in bringing about what the Cubans already have in their poverty-ridden third world country: free, universal health care. And because they have it and we don't, Cuba has a better infant mortality rate than we do, their life expectancy is just 7 months shorter than ours, and, according to the WHO, they rank just two places behind the richest country on earth in terms of the quality of their health care.

That's the story, mainstream media and right-wing haters.

Now that you've been presented with the facts, what are you going to do about it? Are you gonna attack me for having my movie played on Cuban state television? Or are you gonna attack me for not having my movie played on Cuban state television?

You have to choose one, it can't be both.

And since the facts show that the movie played on state TV and in theaters, I think you're better off attacking me for having my films played in Cuba.

¡Viva WikiLeaks!

[JackRiddler]

59. US INTERVENED IN MICHAEL MOORE NEW ZEALAND SHOWING (Fahrenheit 9/11)

Embassy angered by 'potential fiasco' of cabinet minister hosting a showing of Fahrenheit 9/11

Richard Adams in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 December 2010 12.48 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/22/wikileaks-cables-michael-moore-nz

[JackRiddler]

60. ISRAEL TO PARIS: "SECRET ACCORD" WITH US TO ALLOW SETTLEMENT GROWTH (June 2009)

.

This was in the same month as Obama's speech in Cairo with its claims that the US wanted to see an end to new settlements. The source cited in the cable is the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

.

http://213.251.145.96/cable/2009/06/09PARIS827.html

VZCZCXRO5810
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL
DE RUEHFR #0827 1731354
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 221354Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6494
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

S E C R E T PARIS 000827

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR
LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE MID-EAST DIRECTOR ON PEACE PROCESS

Classified By: Acting Political Minister Counselor Andrew R. Young for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

¶1. (S/NF) MFA Middle East Director (Assistant
Secretary-equivalent) Patrice Paoli informed POL Minister
Counselor June 18 that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak
told French officials in Paris June 15 that the Israelis have
a "secret accord" with the USG to continue the "natural
growth" of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Paoli noted
that the French anticipate strong Israeli resistance to USG
pressure on this issue. He asked whether the USG has
considered how to adapt to possible Israeli responses: "How
will you react to Israeli reactions to your pressure?" He
claimed that "the credibility of President Obama will be
judged on the issue of settlements." MFA DAS Ludovic
Pouille, who also attended the meeting, underlined this
point: "Arabs are saying progress on settlements is crucial.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt seem obsessed with the settlements
issue; they won't even enter the game without progress on
settlements." Paoli added that "negotiations can wait until
the fall, but steps forward cannot wait until then." Both
diplomats emphasized the need to build confidence measures on
the ground now.

¶2. (S/NF) In stressing the energy with which the GOF plans
to approach the peace process, Paoli said that France will
not wait until all 27 EU members are in agreement before
pressing ahead with their support of USG efforts. Pouille
said the French can play an important role on "two key
issues": working toward a settlements freeze and monitoring
the implementation of an eventual agreement. By leaning on
other countries in the European Union and within the Quartet
to bring their resources to bear ("their diplomatic presence,
their networks"), Paoli said that France hopes to contribute
to pressing the parties forward as quickly as possible.
Pouille stressed monitoring in particular, which he described
as "a big hole at the Annapolis conference." He argued that
"the US cannot be the only judge" of progress.

¶3. (S/NF) Paoli explained that President Sarkozy will have
three messages to convey to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
when they meet in Paris on June 24:

-- "You think you've got time, but you don't."
-- "You think you have an alternative solution, but you
don't."
-- "You think you're stronger than the Palestinians, but
you're not."

Paoli said that Sarkozy will stress that "there is a single
door and it is imperative to move through it now." Paoli and
Pouille both expressed disappointment with the reservations
contained in Netanyahu's June 14 speech, but noted that it
nonetheless reflected significant movement in the Likud
position regarding a Palestinian state. "It's not easy to
reverse a campaign promise two months after the campaign,"
Paoli observed. They also said that President Obama's
address in Cairo was extremely well received in France and in
the Arab world. "It was a speech, though, and it was a
received as a speech," Pouille said. "The reaction in the
Arab world was: 'Now do it.'"

PEKALA

[JackRiddler]

65. MOSSAD TEAM THAT KILLED AL-MABHOUH IN DUBAI HAD CREDIT CARDS FROM US BANK

Shouldn't the US be cooperating in tracking down this lead?

10ABUDHABI103

S E C R E T ABU DHABI 000103

NOFORN
SIPDIS
FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/24
TAGS: PREL PINS CJAN AE
SUBJECT: UAE REQUEST FOR USG ASSISTANCE IN INVESTIGATION OF KILLING
OF MAHMOUD AL-MABHOUH

CLASSIFIED BY: Doug Greene, DCM; REASON: 1.4(D)

¶1. (C/NF) On the margins of a meeting with visiting
Secretary Chu, on Feb 24 MFA Minister of State Gargash made a
formal request to the Ambassador for assistance in providing
cardholder details and related information for credit cards
reportedly issued by a U.S. bank to several suspects in last
month's killing of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai.
According to a letter Gargash gave the Ambassador (which
transmitted details of the request from Dubai Security authorities
to the UAE Central Bank), the credit cards were issued by
MetaBank, in Iowa. Embassy LEGATT is transmitting the request and
associated details to FBI HQ. Gargash asked that Embassy pass any
reply to the director of the General Directorate of State Security
(GDSS) in Dubai.

¶2. (S/NF) Comment: Ambassador requests expeditious handling
of and reply to the UAEG request, which was also raised by UAE
Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in a February 23 meeting with
Secretary Clinton in Washington.

¶3. (C/NF) Text of letter from GDSS to the Governor of the UAE
Central Bank:

Excellency Sultan Al-Suwiadi

UAE Central Bank Governor

Subject: Credit Cards

MC 5115-2600-1600-6190

MC 5115-2600-1600-5317

MC 5301-3800-3201-7106

General Management of The State Security offers greetings, and asks
your Excellency to direct the money laundry and suspicious
transactions unit at the Central Bank to urgently obtain details of
the above credit cards, in addition to details for purchases,
accounts, and payments on those cards, as the users of those cards
were involved in the murder of Mahmoud Mabhouh. Those cards were
issued by META BANK in the state of Iowa, USA.

Thank you for your kind cooperation.

END TEXT

(Letter is accompanied by a chart with identifying data for alleged
credit card users - scanned and emailed to NEA/ARP.)
OLSON

[JackRiddler]

69. Afterposten publishing cables not available elsewhere...

Largest chunk concerns Sri Lanka.

http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/soc/wl/aftenposten/aftenposten.html

[robertpaulsen]

71. Excellent digging, Jack! Here's my contribution, from STORY #3 of my UNDER THE RUG post.

There have been no further updates regarding Headley's connection with the DEA. But there was an interesting development courtesy of a Wikileaks cable:

WikiLeaks: Headley Wasn't Acting Alone, Said Chidambaram

2010-12-18 17:20:00

New Delhi/London, Dec 18 (IANS) Home Minister P. Chidambaram had insisted on having access to Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley, who scouted for targets for the 26/11 terror attack. 'I have a feeling in my bones that Headley was not acting alone,' the minister is quoted as saying in a fresh WikiLeaks US cable.

A 'secret' US cable of Feb 26 this year, put out by the whistleblower website and reported by Guardian, said that in a Feb 23 meeting in 2010, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Chidambaram discussed the case of Headley, who is in US custody.

The cable said: 'Chidambaram insisted that the GOI (Government of India) have access to Headley: 'we must be able to say we had access, even if Headley did not speak'. He also requested access to Headley's spouse, Shaiza, who he said is in Chicago so GOI investigators can question her on the meaning of her alleged message to Headley that she `saw your graduation'.'

snip

During the meeting, Chidambaram confided that 'I have a feeling in my bones that Headley was not acting alone' in India and expressed frustration over what he characterised as Headley's false claim that he had no accomplices in India, the daily reported.
more...

http://www.sify.com/news/wikileaks-headley-wasn-t-acting-alone-said-chidambaram-news-international-kmsrulfeaab.html

http://americanjudas.blogspot.com/2010/12/under-rug-what-project-censored-missed.html

[JackRiddler]

77. MUMBAI TERROR PLOTTER HAD HISTORY WITH US D.E.A.

Thanks Robert! I'm adding this so people see the headline and follow it back to your thread on this and other important 2010 stories.

UNDER THE RUG - Important stories not in the MSM (or Project Censored) in 2010!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x93967

This story wasn't broken by the cables leak, but as you say the leak provides a new angle.

[JackRiddler]

76. ZIMBABWE PRIME MINISTER SECRETLY URGED US & Co. TO KEEP CRIPPLING SANCTIONS IN PLACE...

Although he opposed these in public to his constituents.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x83341

[JackRiddler]

79. US SOUGHT TO RETALIATE AGAINST EUROPE FOR REFUSING MONSANTO GM CROPS

http://www.alternet.org/food/149348/wikileaks_cables_reveal_u.s._sought_to_retaliate_against_europe_over_refusing_to_allow_monsanto_gm_crops

[JackRiddler]

80. D.E.A. GOES GLOBAL, BEYOND DRUGS

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/149326/wikileaks_cables%3A_drug_enforcement_agency_goes_global,_beyond_drugs

[JackRiddler]

84. CBS COMPILATION: WHAT WIKILEAKS REVEALED TO THE WORLD IN 2010

Some overlap, a bit of official spin.

I don't know what to think about the story that Israel (according to a cable) really did bomb a nuclear reactor in Syria since all accounts on this have been fishy.

First four of many items, go to CBS for links to all stories:



- The U.S. Army considered WikiLeaks a national security threat as early as 2008, according to documents obtained and posted by WikiLeaks in March, 2010.

- Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his top commanders repeatedly, knowingly lied to the American public about rising sectarian violence in Iraq beginning in 2006, according to the cross-referencing of WikiLeaks' leaked Iraq war documents and former Washington Post Baghdad Bureau Chief Ellen Knickmeyer's recollections.

- The Secretary of State's office encouraged U.S. diplomats at the United Nations to spy on their counterparts, including collecting data about the U.N. secretary general, his team and foreign diplomats, including credit card account numbers, according to documents from WikiLeaks U.S. diplomatic cable release. Later cables reveal the CIA draws up an annual "wish-list" for the State Department, which one year included the instructions to spy on the U.N.

- The Obama administration worked with Republicans during his first few months in office to protect Bush administration officials facing a criminal investigation overseas for their involvement in establishing policies that some considered torture. A "confidential" April 17, 2009, cable sent from the US embassy in Madrid obtained by WikiLeaks details how the Obama administration, working with Republicans, leaned on Spain to derail this potential prosecution.

MUCH MUCH MOE
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20026591-503543.html

[JackRiddler]

97. Right Now: US CONTINUING COVERT INFILTRATION AND DESTABILIZATION IN VENEZUELA

http://counterpunch.org/whitney01042011.html

[robertpaulsen]

99. Not sure if this is a repeat, but I just saw this on The Raw Story.

Israel said it would keep Gaza near collapse: WikiLeaks

By Reuters
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 -- 9:47 am

Israel told US officials in 2008 it would keep Gaza's economy "on the brink of collapse" while avoiding a humanitarian crisis, according to U.S. diplomatic cables published by a Norwegian daily on Wednesday.

Three cables cited by the Aftenposten newspaper, which has said it has all 250,000 U.S. cables leaked to WikiLeaks, showed that Israel kept the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv briefed on its internationally criticized blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The territory, home to 1.3 million Palestinians, is run by the Islamist Hamas group, which is shunned by the West over its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence or accept existing interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals.

"As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed to (U.S. embassy economic officers) on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge," one of the cables read.

more...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/israel-gaza-collapse-wikileaks/

[JackRiddler]

100. Aftenposten: Germany, U.S. plan secret spy project

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x118166

[JackRiddler]

101. FRANCE HEADS INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE (according to State Dept cable)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4683425

[JackRiddler]

102. US WORKS WITH JAPAN TO WEAKEN ANTI-WHALING CAMPAIGNS.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x129640

[SpiralHawk]

40. the k and the r

the k and the r

All things must pass.

[xchrom]

41. christmas kick. nt

[AzDar]

42. K & R

:kick:

[pruple]

45. K&R

thanks for this post

[Jefferson23]

46. Bookmarked, and K&R..thanks for posting. n/t

[RoccoR5955]

50. K & R Wikileaks will go down in history as a crusader

in free speech, and speaking truth to power.

[Mosaic]

51. Expose all the scoundrels

Power corrupts, as is seen over and over again. God bless the truth tellers. Much success in the New Year!

Merry Christmas!

[davidthegnome]

52. K & R

If we had a competent or truthful media, this would not have been necessary.

[OnyxCollie]

53. K&R. nt

[Time for change]

54. I wish all Americans could read this.

Treating Wikileaks as the criminals rather than those who they expose is unconscionable. Any government official working to destroy our First Amendment rights needs to be replaced, if not prosecuted.

[JackRiddler]

57. They can! (Well, those who can read, can read this!) Let's turn this into a huge compilation...

and link the hell out of it.

[kgnu_fan]

74. America is asleep, arrogance is our enemy

[Better Believe It]

61. For Sunday folks

[JackRiddler]

62. Also Sunday afternoon!

And I added this to my sig line as a first solution to the "old news" talking point we keep running into.

[JackRiddler]

63. And Monday morning! Just spent 3 hours shoveling snow!

http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/chart?content=snow,Brooklyn,Manhattan,Queens,Bronx,Staten%20Island,Long%20Island&corpus=0&smoothing=3&year_start=1800&year_end=2000

[JackRiddler]

64. As of Tuesday, Dec. 28: 1942/251,287 cables released...

http://wikileaks.ch/cablegate.html

[JackRiddler]

68. Too slow! As of Dec. 30: 1947/251,287 cables...

http://wikileaks.ch/cablegate.html

[kgnu_fan]

73. I suggest you volunteer to help one of the newspapers working to get things going

Have you been a journalist? Do you know how much work it takes to get thing printed? It is a lot of work involved.

[JackRiddler]

78. I suggest you look at the sorry record of the New York Times as paradigmatic...

of the way in which corporate journalism has betrayed the public through years: the failure to cover the stealing of Election 2000, Judy Miller and the enabling of aggressive war on Iraq, the delay on the NSA domestic spying story helping Bush's reelection, the failure to report on the bankster set-up of the housing bubble and the pretend "surprise" afterwards. Now they're spinning a few dozen cables into new war propaganda against Iran.

If you want to volunteer for that, be my guess. They'd have to pay me a lot to work for them. Any volunteer work I do will be using the released cables, and publishing on the glorious free Internet, where insurgent journalism is more and more outmaneuvering the corporate beasts. I look forward to the moment when all of the cables are in the public domain, and the corporate gatekeepers are no longer in control of the message. You ain't seen nothing yet, Wikileaks is just the beginning.


ON EDIT: Ah, never mind, I'm sure you meant well.

[kgnu_fan]

82. You CAN help Wikileaks by doing volunteer work, Not for NYT since it is completey corrupt

[kgnu_fan]

83. And your compilation upstream is a good example, you can help by writing about them

[JackRiddler]

85. So can you! Thanks for the advice.

[xchrom]

66. kick

[JackRiddler]

70. apropos... a great thread by Robert Paulsen on other suppressed/ignored stories of 2010

Follow the link to Project Censored's Top 25, but check out Robert Paulsen's great little compilation on four other big ones untouched by the US corporate media -- perhaps most of all the acknowledgement by the International Energy Agency that peak conventional oil has already happened:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x93967

[wildbilln864]

72. Thank you wikileaks!

Long live Julian Assange!
"they must find it difficult .... those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority"

[defendandprotect]

75. kick

[JackRiddler]

81. kick for the new year -- let's keep adding cable stories here so there's a central compilation

[L. Coyote]

86. WOW, Wikileaks reveals what everyone on DU knows!

[JackRiddler]

87. You mean, what "everyone" guesses while many still contest it? Documents are better...

And golly, you knew the US was encouraging arms shipments to South Sudan in 2005, against the terms of the treaty that made it the chief enforcer against arms shipments? You knew that the State Department wants Ban-Ki Moon's DNA? That the US dictates Swedish copyright law? That a leading right-wing Labor politician in Australia is an informant to the US embassy? That the Lebanese defense minister collaborates with the Israelis in determining how they should target their next war on his country?

I'm impressed, you must have a higher clearance than I do.

[jotsy]

88. I'll play.

There's a month worth of perusing for me, due to some awesome looking links.

Happy new year Mr. Riddler.

[Better Believe It]

90. Check out the link on Google's newspaper archives. That should keep you busy!

Hundreds of daily newspaper archives you can read some going back to early 1800's!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x88558

[jotsy]

91. I've lost a wee bit of faith in the Google lately.

Seems a bit scrubbed, but then again I'm a girl on the hunt about organizations and folks that don't like light. So I've taken to more obscure venues, where the assumption when you ask about the OCC doesn't pertain to Orange County Choppers but the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

[JVS]

89. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

[whatchamacallit]

93. I'm late to the party too - belated K&R n/t

[Generic Other]

95. I figure we can help by posting the interesting cables we stumble on

Too late to recommend though!

Mr Riddler has really got the ball rolling in this thread!!

[JackRiddler]

96. Thanks for that -- I look forward to your additions!

[JackRiddler]

104. but you can kick'em forever, right?

[Generic Other]

92. Cablegate Chronicles: Uribe and Chavez Almost Come to Blows

FROM: MEXICO CITY
TO: STATE DEPARTMENT
DATE: FEBRUARY 26, 2010
CLASSIFICATION: CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
SEE FULL CABLE

¶5. (C) The low point of the meeting was the verbal exchange between Uribe and Chavez at the opening day official lunch. Uribe raised Venezuela's economic embargo on Colombia, terming it unhelpful and inconsistent with the region's economic interest and at odds with Venezuela's strong criticism of the U.S. Embargo on Cuba. Colombia's Ambassador in Mexico, Luis Camilo Osorio, told the polmincouns that, contrary to press accounts, Uribe raised the issue in a non-confrontational way. According to Osorio and press accounts, Chavez reacted emotionally accusing Colombia of having sent assassination squads to kill him and ended a verbal and physical tirade with "You can go to hell; I am leaving (the lunch)." Uribe responded, "Don't be a coward and leave just to insult me from a distance." Verbal and body language continued to escalate, until Raul Castro stepped in to urge civilized discussion. Outside of the dining room, Venezuelan security officials were scuffling with Mexican security guards in an attempt to assist their President.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/12/cablegate-chronicles-uribe-and-chavez-almost-come-to-blows/67495/

[Generic Other]

94. HAMBURG VS. SCIENTOLOGY

Reference ID: 07HAMBURG73
Created: 2007/12/21 16:04
Released: 2010/12/18 11:11
Last saved: 2010/12/19 18:03 +0800
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
Origin: Consulate Hamburg


EUROPE UNDER ATTACK?
¶3. (C) Caberta stated that Scientology has declared “war on Europe.” She cited evidence from
Hamburg’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (OPC) annual reports of how Scientology
attempts to influence politicians and political institutions as well as the press. According to the
Hamburg OPC’s 2006 report, Scientology continues to use methods that are “against the free,
democratic constitutional structure,” as was established in the 1997 State Interior Ministers
meeting. Caberta asserted that Scientology in Germany has received orders from the Los Angeles
headquarters to “conquer” Europe. She contends that the new Berlin headquarters have been set up for
this “campaign.” She continually stressed that she views Scientology not as a religious
organization, but as a “political extremist” one. According to Caberta, the Hamburg Scientologists
as well as most of the Scientology members in Germany are only “small fish” and the organization’s
strategic planning is conducted in the United States.

http://www.dazzlepod.com/cable/07HAMBURG73/

Even mediocre actor Tom Cruise mentioned in wikileaks!

http://www.dazzlepod.com/cable/07HAMBURG73/

[JackRiddler]

103. kick