Interesting Bit From WikiLeaks Dump: Bombing Iran Isn’t Just Some Neo-Con Wet Dream

Liberals love to talk about how nutty neo-cons only want to bomb Iran to save their masters in Israel or something. Well, that little talking point took a big hit yesterday, unless the King of Saudi Arabia is really Jewish or something.

There was little surprising in Mr. Barak’s implicit threat that Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. As a pressure tactic, Israeli officials have been setting such deadlines, and extending them, for years. But six months later it was an Arab leader, the king of Bahrain, who provides the base for the American Fifth Fleet, telling the Americans that the Iranian nuclear program “must be stopped,” according to another cable. “The danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it,” he said.

His plea was shared by many of America’s Arab allies, including the powerful King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who according to another cable repeatedly implored Washington to “cut off the head of the snake” while there was still time.

The fact that Gulf state Arabs aren’t thrilled with the idea of the Persians in Iran having nukes and want to see their ambitions checked isn’t new to anyone who has paid the least bit of attention to this stuff for going on 10 years now. Of course, that eliminates most rank and file Democrats and every leftist who thinks the US is simply trying to gin up a war with Iran for fun and Halliburton profits.

If you’re looking for some of the highlights of the WikiLeaks dump, scroll around this Twitter feed, there’s information both news worthy and gossipy.

Overall, it seem this is something that will be forgotten quickly for the most part. There doesn’t seem to be much that’s shocking or we didn’t know (or at least strongly suspect). Yes, some of the personal characterizations are embarrassing but it’s not like every government (or hell any group of people) don’t talk more candidly in private than they do in public. People will get over it.

The real damage is that future sources of information may be reluctant to come forward in the future for fear of becoming an inadvertent star in some future mass leak. In a lot of places in the world that will lead to far worse things than some embarrassment.

Along those lines Congressman Peter King (R-NY) and currently the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, is urging Attorney General Holder to charge Assange with a crime and for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to designate WikiLeaks as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

From the letter to Clinton…

We know terrorist organizations have been mining the leaked Afghan documents for information to use against us and this Iraq leak is more than four times as large. By disclosing such sensitive information, WikiLeaks continues to put at risk the lives of our troops, their coalition partners and those Iraqis and Afghans working with us.

The WikiLeaks releases provide valuable information and insights to FTOs throughout the world on U.S. military and diplomatic sources and methods and allow our enemies to better prepare for future U.S. and allied military, intelligence, and law enforcement operations targeting them. In addition, the leaks allow nation-states such as Russia, China, and Iran access to information regarding how the United States collects, analyzes, and produces intelligence products.

WikiLeaks presents a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. I strongly urge you to work within the Administration to use every offensive capability of the U.S. government to prevent further damaging releases by WikiLeaks.

Maybe I’m just a cynic but I doubt this administration is going to do anything of the sort. In fairness, the Bush administration didn’t come down on officials who leaked information to the NY Times, the Washington Post or other outlets either. Funny how they get a pass but your average airline passenger gets a virtual strip search or groped for having the temerity to want to go home for Thanksgiving.

(Thanks to Baseballcrank for the King link)

posted by DrewM. at 02:40 PM

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