Wikileaks - It's time to open the archives

[pk]

Yeah, like everyone sat around going on about what a great bunch of guys US Diplomats were before?

Of course not. But now they can pull out of agreements and deadlines and cite these leaks as a reason.

US diplomats are not much worse than others.

Iran will now have good reason to refuse to co-operate with anyone, not ideal really.

 

[kyser_soze]

That mentalist Ahmedinejead is saying that the cables & documents aren't real:

In response to a question by Press TV over the whistleblower website's "leaks," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said "let me first correct you. The material was not leaked, but rather released in an organised way."

"The US administration released them and based on them they pass judgment …. [The documents] have no legal value and will not have the political effect they seek," the Iranian chief executive added at the press briefing in Tehran.

Ahmadinejad stressed that the Wikileaks "game" is "not worth commenting upon and that no one would waste their time reviewing them."

12.54pm: Here's more from Ahmadinejad:

Regional countries are all friends with each other. Such mischief will have no impact on the relations of countries.

Some part of the American government produced these documents. We don't think this information was leaked. We think it was organised to be released on a regular basis and they are pursuing political goals.

The state news agency IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that the cables were not credible.

12.47pm: Breaking news from Teharn: The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed the cables as US mischief making. He said the disclosure that Arab states wanted to attack Iran was not genuine leak, but part of a US campaign of psychological warfare.

from The Guardian website...

He he he.

 

[elbows]

So beyond the usual undiplomatic observations diplomats have about their host nations, the fact the Arabs are just as scared of Israel getting a bomb and have put just as much pressure on the US as the Israelis, is there anything really juicy in here - like the thing newbie posted about the DPRK doing a technology swap with Iran?

I take it you meant to say Iran there?

I havent seen anything really juicy yet, but only 220 cables have ben released so far. Although it is possible that there are a few things that could turn the world on its head, I think its far from certain that there is. We are far more likely to learn thousands of little things that help give further detail to stuff we already knew/suspected, with perhaps a few little twists here and there.

I take it that we should perhaps be rather cautious about posting specific parts of cables that have not been covered by the press?

 

[elbows]

Iran will now have good reason to refuse to co-operate with anyone, not ideal really.

The leaked docs available so far already show the numerous reasons why dealing with the Iranian regime is so very difficult at the best of times, I doubt that the substance of the documents makes it much harder really as its already so hard.

Likewise it will not come as much of a surprise to Iran that its neighbours feel the way they do. Of course Irans public statements about these leaks are the usual form of crude propaganda that has very limited credibility to our eyes but is quite normal and has little to do with whether Ahmedinejead is nuts.

 

[Lakina]

wow - Iran truly is billy no mates

 

[pk]

The leaked docs available so far already show the numerous reasons why dealing with the Iranian regime is so very difficult at the best of times, I doubt that the substance of the documents makes it much harder really as its already so hard.

Likewise it will not come as much of a surprise to Iran that its neighbours feel the way they do. Of course Irans public statements about these leaks are the usual form of crude propaganda that has very limited credibility to our eyes but is quite normal and has little to do with whether Ahmedinejead is nuts.

I think it'll come as a shock to Iranian people that Saudis were trying to talk their pet dog the US to bomb the fuck out of them...

 

[kyser_soze]

Ahmedinnerjacket's already said it's all lies, part of a disinformation campaign. Which is exactly what the UK diplomat who gave the US a masterclass in negotiating with the Iranians said about them - they're paranoid, and believe that everything that comes out of the US/Britain in relation to Iran is part of some giant plot against them.

 

[Fruitloop]

There is no love to be lost between Iran and the Saudis anyway.

 

[DotCommunist]

tbf, it's not paranoia if gb/us have spent the better part of the last century schemeing and diddling you out of oil.

 

[laptop]

tbf, it's not paranoia if gb/us have spent the better part of the last century schemeing and diddling you out of oil.

Not to speak of funding terrorists/insurgents - oh, and that Saddam Hussein - to fight wars against you.

 

[elbows]

I think it'll come as a shock to Iranian people that Saudis were trying to talk their pet dog the US to bomb the fuck out of them...

There may well be surprises for the various populations of different countries, as opposed to the governments.

Im not sure if the Iranian people will be surprised about this particular stuff or not, there is plenty of mistrust and hate between Sunni and Shia, Persians and Arabs, so I doubt it will be a total shock.

I would not characterise the USA as being a pet to Saudi Arabia, yes both sides need and use eachother, but they often dont get their own way. For example the Saudis have wanted the US to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for a very long time but it hasnt happened. Meanwhile Saudi also looks increasingly to China for trade and support of certain policy objectives.

 

[London_Calling]

This stuff should be published in Hello mag.

I want the tittle-tattle about what the rest of the world said about Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.

 

[AKA pseudonym]

Still waiting for the really top secret stuff, like the US government's involvement in blowing up the Twin Towers. I wonder when all that will get leaked.

As it goes Assuange is on record saying he cant stand the 9/11 troofers... Im sure if any group was close to any 'conspiracies', it would be the wiki-leak crew.. but he is probably a reptile

 

[elbows]

Ahmedinnerjacket's already said it's all lies, part of a disinformation campaign. Which is exactly what the UK diplomat who gave the US a masterclass in negotiating with the Iranians said about them - they're paranoid, and believe that everything that comes out of the US/Britain in relation to Iran is part of some giant plot against them.

But we cannot assume that Ahmadinejads public statements reflect what he privately believes.

 

[London_Calling]

Or any 'top secret' stuff at all.

 

[Streathamite]

For sheer comedy value, all of this can't be beat!

 

[elbows]

When it comes to comedy, this is my favourite so far:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/198178

HOW TO TRACK DETAINEES: "I've just thought of something," the King added, and proposed implanting detainees with an electronic chip containing information about them and allowing their movements to be tracked with Bluetooth. This was done with horses and falcons, the King said. Brennan replied, "horses don,t have good lawyers," and that such a proposal would face legal hurdles in the U.S., but agreed that keeping track of detainees was an extremely important issue that he would review with appropriate officials when he returned to the United States.

 

[Shreddy]

tbf, it's not paranoia if gb/us have spent the better part of the last century schemeing and diddling you out of oil.

If that's some sort of apology for anything Ahmedinnerjacket, nice try...

 

[DotCommunist]

it isn't.

 

[Crispy]

his name sounds like dinner jacket

 

[AKA pseudonym]

Im wondering has wiki-leaks hastened the attack on the Iranian scientists?

One of two academics attacked in Iran Monday was a scientist involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities, Iranian news agencies and the United Nations reported.

In separate but similar attacks, assailants on motorcycles attached bombs to cars carrying two professors at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, the semi-official Fars news agency of Iran reported.

cnn

 

[DotCommunist]

Some freak on the radio just called assange (sp) a 'traitor to the west' lol.

 

[Shreddy]

Wikileaks. The gift that keeps on giving.

 

[Jon-of-arc]

Of course not. But now they can pull out of agreements and deadlines and cite these leaks as a reason.

US diplomats are not much worse than others.

Iran will now have good reason to refuse to co-operate with anyone, not ideal really.

Those agreements are always mutually beneficial, otherwise nation states don't enter into them. If it means the US has slightly less imperialistic bullying power over the finer points of them, I don't personally rate this as a diplomatic crisis. Good copy, a tiny shift in the balance of power, and pretty funny as well. But not a diplomatic crisis.

Like Iran ever needed an excuse to not co-operate.

 

[kyser_soze]

his name sounds like dinner jacket

I'm claiming that joke.

 

[elbows]

Shame its more than 3 years old.

(It also raised his profile on the evening news here. Katie Couric dryly has told people that she remembers how to pronounce his name with the mnemonic “I’m a dinner jacket.”)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/opinion/26dowd.html

 

[Crispy]

Oh, and I thought I was the first person to think of it and everything

 

[elbows]

Pretty sure I first heard it from Paul Merton on HIGNFY some years back.

 

[Crispy]

You know I'm joking, right?

 

[elbows]

Yes, although Im not 100% sure whether kyser_soze was.