Cablegate content: Americas, organisations and leaders

See also WikiLeaks, WikiLeaks: List of mirror sites

This article has been split into separate sections to handle the large amount of information

• United States diplomatic cables WikiLeak
• Cablegate content: Americas, organisations and leaders
• Cablegate content: Europe
• Cablegate content: Middle East and North Africa
• Cablegate content: East Asia and Oceania
• Cablegate content: South Asia

The United States diplomatic cables leak began on 28 November 2010 when the website WikiLeaks and five major newspapers published confidential documents of detailed correspondences between the U.S. State Department and its diplomatic missions around the world. The publication of the U.S. embassy cables is the third in a series of U.S. classified document "mega-leaks" distributed by WikiLeaks in 2010, following the Afghan War documents leak in July, and the Iraq War documents leak in October.

The first 291 of the 251,287 documents were published on 28 November, with simultaneous press coverage from El País (Spain), Le Monde (France), Der Spiegel (Germany), The Guardian (United Kingdom), and The New York Times (United States). Over 130,000 of the documents are unclassified; none are classified as "top secret" on the classification scale; some 100,000 are labeled "confidential"; and about 15,000 documents have the higher classification "secret". As of December 8, 2010 1060 individual cables had been released. WikiLeaks plans to release the entirety of the cables in phases over several months.

The cables describe international affairs from 274 embassies dated from 1966–2010. The content includes diplomatic analysis of world leaders, an assessment of host countries, and discussion about many international and domestic issues, from the Middle East to nuclear disarmament, from the War on Terror to attempts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Reactions to the leak ranged from negative to positive. Some western governments expressed strong disapproval and condemnation, and criticized WikiLeaks for potentially jeopardizing international relations and global security. The leak also generated intense interest from the public, journalists, and media analysts. WikiLeaks received support from some commentators who questioned the necessity of government secrecy in a democracy that serves the interests of its people and depends on an informed electorate. Some political leaders referred to Julian Assange, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, as a criminal, but also blamed the U.S. Department of Defense for security lapses that led to the leak. Supporters of Assange have referred to him as a heroic defender of free speech and freedom of the press. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that an "open and transparent government is something that the President believes is truly important. But the stealing of classified information and its dissemination is a crime".

Organization

United Nations

• In July 2009, a confidential originating from the State Department ordered U.S. diplomats to spy on the leader of the United Nations, Secretary general Ban Ki-moon, and other top U.N. officials. The intelligence info the diplomats were ordered to gather included biometric information, passwords, and personal encryption keys used in private and commercial networks for official communications. The news was revealed by website Wikileaks on November 28, 2010. About the legal issue, the UN had previously declared that spying on the Secretary general was illegal, as a breach of the 1946 UN convention. Peter Kemp, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and International Law professor Ben Saul, publicly asked the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to complain "to the U.S. about both Secretaries of State Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton being in major breach of International law ie UN Covenants, by making orders to spy on UN personnel, including the Secretary General, to include theft of their credit card details and communication passwords. Perhaps the Attorney General should investigate this clear prima facie evidence of crime (likely against Australian diplomats as well), rather than he attempts to prosecute the messenger of those crimes."

• Former UN diplomats commented that UN officials already work under the assumption that they are spied on and are used to getting around it, but the surprise in this case was that it was done by other diplomats rather than intelligence agencies. This scenario therefore blurs the line between diplomats and spies. Julian Assange claimed that not only Clinton, but "the whole chain of command who was aware of this order, and approved it, must resign if the U.S. is to be seen to be a credible nation that obeys the rule of law." When asked whether President Obama was also responsible for the order and should resign, Assange added that "the order is so serious it may well have been put to the president for approval." State Department spokesman Philip Crowley stated that Clinton had not drafted the directive and that the Secretary of State's name is systemically attached to the bottom of cables originating from Washington.

European Union

• European Union President Herman Van Rompuy was quoted saying to the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Howard W. Gutman, that "EU no longer believes in the success of the military mission in Afghanistan". He also added "Europe is doing it [war in Afghanistan] and will go along out of deference to the United States, but not out of deference to Afghanistan"

By region

Other information in the tranche of cables released by WikiLeaks on 28 November 2010 and subsequent days included the following:

Americas

Brazil

• An American ambassador stated that Brazil remained "paranoid" over his ability to retain claims to the Amazon Rainforest and oil reserves, despite the knowledge that there are "no international threats" over them. The ambassador's rationales for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's actions is that they "serve the practical purpose of tasking the military with developing greater capabilities" while remaining "politically popular white elephants."

Canada

• Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Jim Judd complained about Canada's courts and general public to U.S. Counselor of the State Department Eliot A. Cohen in Ottawa on 2 July 2008. He ascribed an "Alice in Wonderland" worldview to Canadians and their courts, whose judges have tied CSIS "in knots", making it ever more difficult to detect and prevent terror attacks in Canada and abroad.
• Judd commented that cherry-picked sections of the court-ordered release of a DVD of Guantanamo detainee and Canadian citizen Omar Khadr would likely show three Canadian adults interrogating a kid who breaks down in tears. He observed that the images would no doubt trigger "knee-jerk anti-Americanism" and "paroxysms of moral outrage, a Canadian specialty", as well as lead to a new round of heightened pressure on the government to press for Khadr's return to Canada. He predicted that Harper's government would nonetheless continue to resist this pressure.
• Judd is quoted as telling Cohen that Canadian spies had prior warning that an explosion at Sarpoza Prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan was being planned by the Taliban. However, Judd stated that the spies "could not get a handle on the timing". An investigation headed by Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson, into intelligence failures leading to the prison break, claimed Canada did not suspect an attack. Former Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier stated in a committee hearing that "Obviously we would have liked to have known so we could have pre-empted or helped, more accurately, the Afghans pre-empt that kind of thing".
• CSIS officers have been "vigorously harassing" known Hezbollah members in Canada.
• U.S. diplomats in Ottawa wrote to Washington that the CBC pushes "insidious negative popular stereotyping" with "anti-American melodrama" in its entertainment television programs, according to documents to be released by the website WikiLeaks.

Haiti

• Brazil's Army leads MINUSTAH, a 12,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Haiti. According to cables, the Army is frustrated with the lack of an exit strategy.

Honduras

• A cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, definitively characterizes the June 2009 ousting of President Manuel Zelaya as "an illegal and unconstitutional coup". The decisiveness of the cable was not reflected in Clinton's reluctance to use such terminology in public statements and the U.S. State Department's failure to cut off all aid save "democracy assistance", as required by law in the case of a coup. The cable is also seemingly at odds with relatively rapid moves by the U.S., the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank to normalize relations with Honduras.

United States

• The U.S. bargained with other nations on moving prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to other countries. In one case, U.S. officials allegedly offered Slovenia a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, if the country accepted one of the Guantanamo Bay detainees. Offers to other countries include economic incentives or a visit from Obama.

Paraguay

Lugo’s opponents’ had planned the legislative coup that removed him from office on the 23rd of June 2012, and U.S. officials had known about it, as early as 2009. A diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks reads, "Capitalize on any Lugo missteps to break the political deadlock in Congress, impeach Lugo and assure their own political supremacy",.

Venezuela

• A cable sent from the US embassy in Brasilia on 13 November 2009 reported that Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim "all but acknowledged presence of the FARC in Venezuela".
• Spanish newspaper El País released some information about the remaining Venezuelan cables, not released yet at the WikiLeaks webpage. These cables supposedly deal with issues related to Cuban intelligence in Venezuela working together with the Venezuelan government.
• A cable sent from the US embassy in Caracas on 14 December 2009 explains what the embassy considers to be the situation of Venezuelan public health system and the government actions related to the public health sector. This in the context of raised protests in private and public hospitals with motivation in the alleged failure of Barrio Adentro, a social welfare program, with support of Cuban doctors, that seeks to provide comprehensive publicly-funded health care, dental care, and sports training to poor and marginalized communities in Venezuela.

Diplomatic analysis of individual leaders

Harsh criticism by U.S. embassy staff of their host governments:

Afghanistan

• Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, was called "paranoid" by diplomats. The diplomats stated that he is considered "an extremely weak man who did not listen to facts but was instead easily swayed by anyone who came to report even the most bizarre stories or plots against him".

Albania

• Sali Berisha, Prime Minister of Albania, was called "To pro american as needed" by the diplomats. After his offer to take more Gitmo prisoners American diplomats portrayed his offer as "gracious, but probably extravagant". "As always, the Albanians are willing to go the extra mile to assist with one of our key foreign policy priorities", a cable said.

Argentina

• Cristina Kirchner and Néstor Kirchner, current and former Presidents of Argentina, respectively, are described as "paranoid regarding power" and showing "ineptitude for foreign policy". Also it asks for information on the mental state and health of the current president of Argentina.

Armenia

• Serge Sargsyan, President of Armenia, was noted in the letters from U.S. administration to Sargsyan condemning the Armenian arms shipments to Iran which killed American soldiers and his unreasonable denials of transfer or weapons.

Australia

• Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia, was described as a "control freak" and "a micro-manager obsessed with managing the media cycle rather than engaging in collaborative decision making". Diplomats also criticized Rudd's foreign policy record.

Austria

• Werner Faymann, Chancellor of Austria, was criticised for a lack of interest in foreign politics.

Azerbaijan

• Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, was a cross between fictional mafia bosses Michael Corleone and Sonny Corleone from the mob film The Godfather (1972), being a "pragmatist" when it comes to foreign policy but "increasingly authoritarian" on domestic policy.
• Mehriban Aliyeva, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's wife, according to US embassy dispatches, was said to have "so much plastic surgery that it is possible to confuse her for one of her daughters from a distance, but that she can barely still move her face".

Brazil

• Brazil's Foreign Ministry was described as an "opponent" with an "anti-American slant".
• Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim confirmed an earlier rumor that the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, is suffering from a serious sinus tumor.

France

• Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, was described by U.S. diplomatic officials as "thin-skinned", "authoritarian" and an "emperor with no clothes".

Germany

• Angela Merkel, German chancellor, is called Angela "Teflon" Merkel. The diplomats stated that "when cornered, Merkel can be tenacious but is risk averse and rarely creative".

Haiti

• Cables from the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince paint an exhaustive portrait of Haiti's President Rene Preval. Preval is described as fearful of exile, passive, indifferent to his advisors, and at the same time prone to micro-management. There is "special intelligence" on his medical regimen and he's rumored to be drinking heavily. And he's skeptical of a UN-commissioned report being touted by the international community as a development template for Haiti.

Iran

• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, was criticised by many Arab leaders. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed urged the US not to appease Tehran and said, "Ahmadinejad is Hitler".

Iraq

• Nouri al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq, was labeled a "liar" by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, "saying he would never support him".

Israel

• Benjamin Netanyahu is "elegant and charming", according to a cable apparently penned by an official at the U.S. embassy in Egypt, "but never keeps his promises".

Italy

• Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, was defined by the U.S. Embassy in Rome as "feckless, vain, and ineffective as a modern European leader". US diplomatic officials also said that because of his constant partying he is never well rested.

Libya

• Muammar al-Qadhafi, leader of Libya allegedly has a fear of flying over water and he no longer relies on his all female bodyguard force, only taking one to the UN during 2010. Gene Cretz, the US ambassador to Libya noted that that Qadhafi never travels without his "voluptuous blonde" Ukrainian nurse, with whom some claim he is romantically linked. When her visa was not approved in time for Qadhafi’s trip to the UN, he had her privately flown to him afterward. The nurse is identified as Galyna Kolotnytska.

North Korea

• Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea, was portrayed to diplomats by a source as a "'flabby old chap' and someone who had suffered 'physical and psychological trauma' as a result of his stroke". Chinese diplomats consider Kim irascible and unpredictable, mentioning they do not "like" North Korea, but "they are a neighbour". Kim has a reputation among Chinese diplomats as being "quite a good drinker".

Pakistan

• Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan, was called "dirty but not dangerous" by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, in contrast to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who was described as "dangerous but not dirty -- this is Pakistan". Saudi King Abdullah was critical of Zardari, stating that "when the head is rotten... it affects the whole body".

People's Republic of China

• Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, was described by Japanese prime minister Taro Aso as "confident and relaxed" during their meeting. This is in contrast to Premier Wen Jiabao, who was "very tired and seemed under a lot of pressure", attributed to the financial crisis.

Russia

• Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, wields less power than his "alpha dog" image in the media portrays. He is alleged to bribe Kremlin figures, or else many of his edicts are not implemented. American diplomats have raised concerns over personal corruption, calling Putin's Russia a "mafia state". The Swiss oil-trading company Gunvor is "rumored to be one of Putin’s sources of undisclosed wealth", allegedly "bringing its owners billions of dollars in profit". Diplomats have also discussed Putin's very close relationship with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and "the pair enjoyed such a close relationship that they shared a 'direct line'". It is suspected that Berlusconi personal relationship with Putin influenced the sale of part of Russian state-owned Gazprom’s oil subsidiary Gazpromneft to Italian Eni.
• Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, was described as "pale" and "indecisive", playing "Robin to Putin's Batman".

Saudi Arabia

• King Abdullah was stated by diplomats as "'tending to express himself tersely' because of his lifelong struggle with a 'speech impediment', but added that he is a 'wry and forthright interlocutor.'"

Sweden

• Carl Bildt, Swedish minister of foreign affairs, was described as a "Medium size dog with big dog attitude".

Turkey

• Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish prime minister, was described as a "perfectionist workaholic who sincerely cares for the well-being of those around him". He was also described by US diplomats as having "little understanding of politics beyond Ankara" and as surrounding himself with an "iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors". He is said to be "isolated", and that his MPs and Ministers feel "fearful of Erdogan's wrath". Diplomats state that "he relies on his charisma, instincts, and the filterings of advisors who pull conspiracy theories off the web or are lost in neo-Ottoman Islamist fantasies". Erdogan responded strongly to the claims, threatening a lawsuit. He rejects the allegations of having "eight secret accounts in Swiss banks", stating that the people responsible for the 'slander' will "be crushed under these claims, will be finished and will disappear".

Turkmenistan

• Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, President of Turkmenistan, was described as "vain, fastidious, vindictive, a micro-manager, and a bit of an Ahal Teke 'nationalist.'" The American diplomat also commented that Berdymukhammedov has a Russian mistress.

Zimbabwe

• Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, was described as the devil. The cable said that Mugabe was cleverer and more ruthless than any other Zimbabwean politician.
• Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, was described as flawed, indecisive and lacking executive experience.

Disclosing international infrastructure critical to US national security

Perhaps the most sensitive of all releases as of December 6 was a cable from the US State Department sent in February 2009 listing installations and infrastructure worldwide that it considered critical to protect US interests from terrorists. Before releasing this list WikiLeaks had deliberately removed details of names and locations, but much was still revealed. Ostensibly the list does not include any military facilities. Instead it includes key facilities that if attacked could disrupt the global supply chain and global communications, as well as goods and services important to the US and its economy. In the cable the State Department requests American diplomats to identify installations overseas "whose loss could critically impact the public health, economic security, and/or national and homeland security of the United States." The order was under the direction of the Department for Homeland Security in co-ordination with the Department of State.

These are noted excerpts from the list:

• Submarine communications cables
  • across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand, Australia, China and other US allies in Asia.
  • across the Atlantic Ocean, particularly those from the United Kingdom and Ireland northwards.
• Major port hubs, particularly in China, Japan and South Korea.
• Critical sea lanes, such as the Straits of Hormuz, the Panama Canal and the Straits of Malacca.
  • Notably, the Bosphorus Strait is missing from this list reflecting changes in the global strategic map.
• The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline as well as many other strategic pipelines criss-crossing Eurasia.
  • In connection to these pipelines also Georgia, Azerbaijan and Belarus are on the list.
• Mines that produce rare earth and other much-needed metals, especially in South Africa and Australia.
  • Several underwater pipelines are listed in Japan, China and Britain.
• A long list of pharmaceutical facilities in Europe.
• Ostensibly missing are also civil nuclear power plants outside of the United States.
• Dams close to the U.S. border.

The publishing of this particular cable which had been classified secret and not for review by non-U.S. personnel, has been followed by strong criticism. US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the disclosure was "gives a group like al-Qaeda a targeting list." Also British prime minister David Cameron stated that the list was damaging to the national security of both his country and the United States, "and elsewhere". WikiLeaks spokeswoman Kristinn Hrafnsson said with reference to the cable: "This further undermines claims made by the US Government that its embassy officials do not play an intelligence-gathering role. Part of the cable read: "Posts are not/not being asked to consult with host governments with respect to this request."

Reactions

Wikipedia:Reactions to the United States diplomatic cables leak

Many governments said the leaks could damage diplomatic relationships between countries and put people at risk. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton condemned the leak as an attack not just on the U.S. but on all governments:

Let's be clear: This disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community, the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity. Now, I'm aware that some may mistakenly applaud those responsible, so I want to set the record straight. There is nothing laudable about endangering innocent people, and there is nothing brave about sabotaging the peaceful relations between nations.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticized the overclassification of information that should otherwise be available to the public for discussion. The ACLU called on President Obama to "recommit to the ideals of transparency he invoked at the beginning of his presidency. The American public should not have to depend on leaks to the news media and on whistleblowers to know what the government is up to." Ben Wizner, Litigation Director of the ACLU National Security Project, issued a statement about the Khalid El-Masri cable leak revelations, calling for public accountability and the strengthening of the rule of law and democracy in the United States.

In the wake of the leak, politicians called for action. U.S. Congressman Peter T. King proposed designating WikiLeaks as a terrorist organization, and Julian Assange became a target of repeated attacks and incitements to violence. According to Assange:

I have been accused of treason, even though I am an Australian, not a US, citizen. There have been dozens of serious calls in the US for me to be "taken out" by US special forces. Sarah Palin says I should be "hunted down like Osama bin Laden", a Republican bill sits before the US Senate seeking to have me declared a "transnational threat" and disposed of accordingly. An adviser to the Canadian Prime Minister's office has called on national television for me to be assassinated. An American blogger has called for my 20-year-old son, here in Australia, to be kidnapped and harmed for no other reason than to get at me.

Reporters Without Borders raised concerns over the extreme comments made by American authorities concerning WikiLeaks and its founder Assange. It issued a statement saying that "this is the first time we have seen an attempt at the international community level to censor a website dedicated to the principle of transparency. We are shocked to find countries such as France and the United States suddenly bringing their policies on freedom of expression into line with those of China." The group also condemned the subsequent blocking and the massive distributed denial-of-service attack on the WikiLeaks website.

wiktionary has a definition of Cablegate

External links

• Secret US Embassy Cables website by WikiLeaks.
• The US embassy cables by The Guardian.
• State's Secrets by The New York Times.
• WikiLeaks Diplomatic Cables by Der Spiegel
• The Arrest of Julian Assange and the U.S. "War on WikiLeaks" - video report by Democracy Now!