On Dec 1, 2010, at 3:01 PM, Julio Huato wrote:
> And those idiots in the government acting as if they need to respond
> to this as if it were some sort of a crisis. They should just chill
> out. Who cares?
What really did you learn from these leaks that you didn't already know?
Officialdom is annoyed because they don't like having their dirty laundry aired in public. But these are the same people who think a demonstration with a few broken windows is an act of almost revolutionary violence, and who view an impertinent question from a member of the general public as an act of lese majeste. That's why they're pissed. Though Robert Gates isn't wailing so much:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/gates-on-leaks-wiki-and-otherwise
“Let me just offer some perspective as somebody who’s been at this a long time. Every other government in the world knows the United States government leaks like a sieve, and it has for a long time. And I dragged this up the other day when I was looking at some of these prospective releases. And this is a quote from John Adams: ‘How can a government go on, publishing all of their negotiations with foreign nations, I know not. To me, it appears as dangerous and pernicious as it is novel.’
“Now, I’ve heard the impact of these releases on our foreign policy described as a meltdown, as a game-changer, and so on. I think those descriptions are fairly significantly overwrought. The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets. Many governments — some governments — deal with us because they fear us, some because they respect us, most because they need us. We are still essentially, as has been said before, the indispensable nation.
“So other nations will continue to deal with us. They will continue to work with us. We will continue to share sensitive information with one another.
“Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest.’’