"Hillary’s stolen 950 FBI, federal code level and diplomatic UN files
are now OUR OWN PRIVATE DNC-owned "Badges of Courage".
So, we .... alone will continue to make the rules."
Posted on 11/29/2010 5:45:58 AM PST by SJackson
The US is clearly listening to what Middle Eastern leaders have to say about Iran - now what are they going to do about it? Talkbacks (13) Based on the trove of diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks on Sunday, the United States is clearly listening to and recording what Middle Eastern leaders have to say about Iran. The question left unanswered is what the US is willing to do about it.
For years now, top Israeli political and defense leaders have warned the world that a nuclear Iran is not just a threat to the Jewish state but is a threat to the entire region.
RELATED: Wikileaks: 'Saudis on Iran: Cut off the head of the snake' Leak: Iran used Red Crescent to smuggle weapons
“If only we could say publicly what we hear behind closed doors,” Israeli officials would comment, following off-record talks they held with Arab leaders throughout the Middle East.
Well, now they can. According to one cable published by WikiLeaks on Sunday, Saudi King Abdullah “frequently exhorted the US to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program” and to cut off the head of the snake.
According to another cable, King Hamad of Bahrain, a country with a majority Shi’ite population, urged in a meeting with former CENTCOM commander Gen.
David Petraeus that action be taken to terminate Iran’s nuclear program.
“That program must be stopped,” Hamad said, according to the cable. “The danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it.”
Jordan, another country that voiced concern, is uncomfortable with the possibility that a nuclear Iran would provide an umbrella for opposition groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt is also challenged by Iran’s continued nuclear development, as shown by the conviction in April of 26 men who were spying for Hizbullah and plotting attacks in Egypt.
From an Israeli perspective, therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that WikiLeaks may have done the country a service on Sunday. By presenting the Arab leaders as more extreme in their remarks than Israeli leaders, the cables show the dissonance in the region and the danger involved in allowing Iran to continue with its nuclear program.
While there were some comments made by Mossad director Meir Dagan regarding leaders in the Middle East – the emir of Qatar is “annoying,” and the king of Morocco is not interested in governing – that are slightly embarrassing, Israeli politicians were spared the more embarrassing analyses of their personalities that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi received.
The information revealed in the cables is vast and informative, providing an unprecedented insight into the way some of Israel’s top intelligence officials and politicians view the region and its challenges.
Dagan, for example, comes out looking much more than just the head of a spy agency, and according to the cables, is sought after by almost every senior US official visiting Israel. In one cable he met with a Homeland Security official, in another with the undersecretary of state. In another he met with officials from the Treasury Department and in another, Mossad officials met with US military officers.
In general and contrary to earlier predictions, the cables did not appear to contain information that could significantly harm Israeli national security.
Most Israeli officials, such as Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Dagan and Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen.
Amos Yadlin, appear to be careful in what they say in the meetings, which are clearly being documented by American aides in the room. In one cable, while Yadlin said that covert means needed to be used to stop Iran, he was quoted as refusing to elaborate.
At the end of the day, though, none of this has changed the state of affairs regarding global efforts to stop Iran. While the UN has ratcheted up sanctions and the US is threatening more and tougher ones, the Teheran regime is continuing to defy the international community and to enrich uranium, making it today just a jump away from creating a nuclear weapon whenever it wants. Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive news updates directly to your email
No one is saying how all of this ‘diplomatic cables’ leak will affect the standing of Hillary Clinton.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
Do they still use “cables”? Telegrams? What method of transmission are we talking about, really?
While the details of this ‘data dump’ may vindicate some (yaaayyy) and condemn others(booooo - or sometimes, yaayy), we need to keep sight of the bigger picture - the fact that the Diplomatic Process has been compromised, and, perhaps, damaged beyond repair...
Who is going to engage in “Confidential Talks”, if confidentiality can’t be guaranteed?? Diplomacy, of the kind that averts wars, (And yes, there is such) may have just become obsolete...
As I said yesterday, The cards are being laid out on the table. Maybe the first time in history, we will have the TRUTH about what our politicians REALLY say and do.
More GOOD may come from this than harm.
So far, President Bush has been vindicated, and now we are finding out the Arabs worry about Iran.
Funny thing is, what we are REALLY finding out from the ‘documents’ is what the rest of the world already knows.
We are now privy to the REAL Hillary Clinton and what is required from any Sec. of State. The fact that all US Embassies are spy networks is nothing new at all. Everybody engages in espionage.
How so?
Wikileaks already had a document dump and the world didn't end.
Please provide one thing from the 'data dump' that has compromised the Diplomatic Process. (compromising the corruption in the Diplomatic Process doesn't count).
Name one thing released so far that our enemies (and most of the rest of the world) didn't already know.
No, I think I’ll just leave you alone with your schadenfreude...
Enjoy...
She comes out looking good to me.
Outstanding.
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops."-- Luke 12:1-3
"Hillary’s stolen 950 FBI, federal code level and diplomatic UN files
are now OUR OWN PRIVATE DNC-owned "Badges of Courage".
So, we .... alone will continue to make the rules."
They probably describe Hillary as an “Old Yenta.”
Well, if you think it’s good news that diplomats and foreign leaders will no longer be able to be candid with their American counterparts... then I guess you can think this is good.
I’m not so sure.
“Name one thing released so far that our enemies (and most of the rest of the world) didn’t already know.”
I would hold off any damage assessments until they release all the documents. Secret/NF cables are classified to protect US interests. As you said, SO FAR...
‘Saudis on Iran: Cut off the head of the snake’
According to another cable, King Hamad of Bahrain, a country with a majority Shi’ite population, urged in a meeting with former CENTCOM commander Gen.David Petraeus that action be taken to terminate Iran’s nuclear program.
Jordan, another country that voiced concern, is uncomfortable with the possibility that a nuclear Iran would provide an umbrella for opposition groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood
Don’t these countries have armies and air forces. It is time for them to do some of the heavy lifting.Why must we put our men and women in harms way?
If they won’t help, we need to seize all the oil fields in their countries and return them only after they take out Iran and they acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.
the sliver lining in all this is that now all of those two-faced Arab leaders are on record as favoring a strike on Iran as well.
If any foreign diplomat or leader ever thought they ought to be candid with their American counterparts, they were barely sentient above the amoeba level. Nothing new.
Sorry, I thought it was fairly obvious that diplomatic and other inter-governmental communications should be able to happen in an atmosphere of confidence. Perhaps I wasn’t clear.
No, what these leaks have done is cause those Arab leaders to lose face by making their private comments public. Now they must go to great extremes to the opposite of their true convictions, in order to regain face. Furthermore, they’ll angrily claim that Wikileaks is a Zionist plot, that the things they are alleged to have said were made up by Wikilinks as part of that plot, just so the evil Zionists could attack Iran and then absorb it into a Greater Zion, which will one day include Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the holy places of Mecca and Medina(gasp!), which they will then desecrate with their Jewish rituals. Wait for it. It’ll come.
Of course, privately, they will still say the same things to Israel about Iran, and all diplomatic communications will be subjected to greater security in order to keep it away from the likes of Wikilinks in the future. But this is life in the Middle East.
Wikilinks might have vindicated Israel, but it has also just made a lot of unnecessary trouble for us, which is why they should stay the hell away from diplomatic communication. People die because of the wrong thing being made public. Wars start from these things.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.