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Wikileaks, again… (Omar)

Wikileaks is about to leak their latest document horde. Good. 

The more the merrier. There will be a lot hyperventilating in the US media and "diplomatic community" for a few days, primarily by people who claim to think in terms of real "objective" factors in world affairs but actually have no confidence in their own propaganda.
The irony is, they are closer to the truth when they are spouting propaganda! The US is not the pre-eminent power in the world because its super smart diplomats write super smart cables. You could kick that whole delicately balanced house of cards and it would fly in the air and fall down looking much the same as it did before the kick. All these alliances and counter-alliances are too robust to fall apart over leaked cables.
In any case, we know from the old declassified cables of 50 years ago that American diplomats are no more "deep" than TIME magazine. Most of the time, its just CYA fluff and idiocy like "General Musharraf drinks scotch whisky, so he is definitely a pro-western moderate". Its mostly BS anyway. 
Not that I want to imply that other countries do much better. In fact, I would be willing to bet that diplomatic intelligence from China and Russia and Japan and Sweden (not to speak of Pakistan and India) will be even more juvenile than the same from the USA. The world is what it is, which means most of the "analysis" out there is hot air (including this one).
 If Chinese diplomacy is able to keep its cables secret, they are not "there" yet. When they get "there", some Chinese hacker will leak their cables too.

The secret protects itself.

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4 responses to “Wikileaks, again… (Omar)”

  1. Don

    If only all our diplomats were as glib and witty as our author. If so, I’m sure those would be leaked documents worth looking through. Apparently, no one needs waste their time on this batch.

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  2. Sujatha

    The hyperventilation is likely to spread all over the U.S media as well, at least till the next shiny object comes along. It’s already begun in the Indian newspapers, as all and sundry sit poised to cut and paste from the earliest release of the ’embarrassing Indian reports’. It’s going to be an entertaining if not edifying spectacle, I’m sure.

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  3. Norman Costa

    Don,
    “If only all our diplomats were as glib and witty as our author.”
    Your comment made me reflect on my experiences with organizations over the years, large and small. A bit of verbal wit comes from a mind that understands motivations, and can transform observations into a clever undressing and cutting to the quick.
    I’ve observed that organizations that are dysfunctional, or secret about its unvirtuous motivations, or lead by insecure executives are quick to pick up on the entertaining and revealing witticisms. The thoughtful indulgence given to the court jester is not in evidence here. It’s just the opposite. Certainly, everyone is amused and chuckles at the cleverness. The humorist, however, would have fared a lot better had he not been so public about being incisive and insightful.
    In a way, it’s anti-intellectualism. Being well informed and very smart can be very threatening to others who go to great lengths to hide their own deficiencies from superiors, subordinates, and peers. Those who are quite intelligent and informed themselves, and who are intent on advancing a ‘political agenda,’ cannot permit a loyal opposition to question their plans that were long in the making.
    Those who keep quiet and keep their heads down will survive and do very well. If there is any hint that someone is thinking witty thoughts and understands what is really going on, they can forget any expectation of reward and congratulations.

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  4. Norman Costa

    omarali50,
    Thanks for your post. There are two ominous developments that cause me great concern, even fear, for our democracy:
    1.) The ‘coalition of the willing’ democracies, like France, who are eager to stifle the dissemination of truthful information that sheds light on how governments and leaders behave or misbehave.
    2.) The outsourcing of political repression to private enterprise, the acquiescence of corporations to a call for punishing those who embarrass our politicians, and their willing participation in abridging the rule of law.
    “Julian Assange. WiliLeaks founder, earlier today said the development is an example of the “privatization of state censorship” in the US and is a “serious problem”. “These attacks will not stop our mission, but should be setting off alarm bells about the rule of law in the United States,” he warned.”
    I am not optimistic.

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