Secretary of Defense on the leaks - Gates on Leaks, Wiki and Otherwise - NYTimes.com:
"“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... “Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest.’’"Stewart nails the one of the more cogent "revelations" of the cables, which wasn't really, if you know anything of the region... the inanity of funding the funders of Islamic militant extremism, our 'buddies' the Saudis.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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Which is predated by those paying attention, by this "epic rant" by Dylan Ratigan. Truly excellent. Particularly the dumbfounded looks on the faces of the rest of the talking heads panel.
"...there is a small group of well-funded Wahhabi extremists, funded by the Saudi Arabian government, to whom we gave money... American oil money and American guns, to the Saudi Arabian government... Those guns, that money, to Wahhabi extremist Muslims in Saudi Arabia. The only ones who have ever killed us. Them. We are not at war with Islam, we are not war with Muslims, we are not at war with Afghanistan, we are not at war with Iraq, Iran, it's nonsense... it is an extraordinary failure of our politicians and our media [...] to fail to make that distinction...
Punish the Wiki “Sleazeball?” Bill, Chill. « John Stossel:
"After the last Wikileaks dump of on-the-ground reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, officials panicked. “Innocents will die,” former CIA director Michael Hayden wrote.Ron Paul quote hat tip via ‘Treason’ « LewRockwell.com Blog
The reality? Last month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote: “The review to date has not revealed any sensitive intelligence sources and methods compromised.”"
A man who struck me as very smart, who I voted for, said
“The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. And the way to make government accountable is make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they’re being made, and whether their interests are being well served. For a long time now, there’s been too much secrecy in this city…That era is now over. Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information but those who seek to make it known."That was President Obama. But like many things in the hope/change era, this has turned out to be little more than rhetoric, which profoundly disappoints me.
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