Releasing benign secrets has an important function too. It lets us see that the US government isn't some cabal classifying all of their crimes and ONLY their crimes. This latest leak is boring but reassures me that clearly the US isn't as bad as some would believe.
It also, of course, forces us to ask why all these things are classified in the first place and if maybe, just maybe, the government is more about secret-keeping than serving the people now.
C'est la vie.Documents highlight UK paranoia about the so-called "special relationship"
Bollocks is it special, the US views us as a useful ally and nothing more. Ever since Churchill our politicians have been idiotic to think that the US-UK relationship is "special", any more than the US' relationships with its other allies.
edited 4th Dec '10 8:31:16 AM by pagad
With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.Well to an extent it is. When was the last time America invaded somewhere else because it was in their interest, not the Americans (Iran yo).
Though we do really need to start developing stronger relationships with Europe. After all it's going to become the central superpower in our lifetime. Still, I suppose it's inevitable, just a matter of when we fully throw our lot in with Germany/France (hello recent joint military contract with the French).
Then again, we may well be. Problem with only having cables from one side released.
edited 4th Dec '10 8:44:17 AM by Sandor
"When you cut your finger, I do not bleed." Response of a man who lived on the outskirts of a concentration camp.Not really.
Now let’s set aside the 'last three hundred years'. Because whut.
By every measure and projection we've either passed, or set in the immediate future to pass the US. We're moving towards a bi-polar world, with two hegemony’s.
Now I’m sure I’ll regret this. But what exactly Tom, do you feel will stop Europe becoming a superpower?
"When you cut your finger, I do not bleed." Response of a man who lived on the outskirts of a concentration camp.China. India. Russia. The US once the bozo presently in the White House is gone.
Europe doesn't have the military power to repel anyone's aggression be they American, Chinese, Russian or whatever.
Their economic power is highly dependent on itself. The Euro as a currency is too overvalued to be of use on the export market. The Russian ruble, Chinese renmibi/yuan, US Dollar (though lately not by much), Japanese yen, and Indian rupee are far more favorable to competitive exports.
Then you have the fact that practically HALF of the continent the UK included is falling apart into fiscal instability and/or bankruptcy. Emerging superpowers do not have bankruptcies and austerity measures being implemented at the government level.
Uh, reading the article on Huckabee, it is clearly saying he wants the person who leaked the info (not the wikileaks guy) be executed. Given he would be guilty of giving aid to enemies of the US (unless he was somehow not a US citizen, which would be really embaressing for the security), Execution is not unreasonable.
Also, apparently Canada's PM is pissed about being called dull
. That's more interesting than anything in the leaks.
The only argument their of any worth is the lack of a unified military. Which isn't particularly compelling in and of itself. This is both going to change, and as of now europe has th military power for interventionist actions, and the ability to fight proxy wars.
You know, the only kind of wars that are fought in a post nuclear world. The largest economyin the world, and far more effective cultural imperialism and soft power (pro tip, all the other potential superpowers use the European model - not American), and a population set to reach that of China and India through future enlargment.
"When you cut your finger, I do not bleed." Response of a man who lived on the outskirts of a concentration camp.^ Largest economy? Please, you guys had to band together and cook the books to show that as is evident from the austerity measures and bankruptcies plaguing the continent. Nowhere in Europe has even a significant fraction of what the US, China and India has.
Europe has interventionist military capacity? Then why don't you guys help out more in Afghanistan? Why didn't you help out more in 2001 when it started? Are you just weak or are you lying? (It's better to be weak than a liar)
Your population is declining on 60% or more of the continent. You're dependent on foreign immigration from lands that are not tolerant of your lifestyles and systems. Who instead segregate themselves from your societies and in some cases actively call for their demise.
edited 4th Dec '10 9:29:20 AM by MajorTom
Wait, wait, wait. Last 300 years?! Wow. What they say about Americans being ignorant of geography must really be true in order for you to completely overlook the largest ever empire in history.
As for the military thing. Europe DOES have interventionist Military Capacity. Just because we don't use it enough to satisfy rampant American Jingoism doesn't mean we don't have it.
With regard to Superpower Status.... It could honestly end up going either way. A unified Europe, probably using a similar model to the States System in the US would be very powerful indeed. It might happen, it might not, but I'd say with recent trends you're probably looking at about 65% odds at best.
edited 4th Dec '10 9:50:57 AM by Capt.Fargle
![]()
![]()
That's exactly why Europe is weak. Intolerant Muslims.
I don't see Europe becoming the dominant world power any time soon, in fact I agree that it will likely decline in relevance until it is more in line with its actual natural resources, but it's hardly (currently) a negligible presence on the world stage.
British aid of no use in Afghanistan and Iraq? At least our troops pointed our guns and bombs at the enemy, not our allies. At least our troops didn't routinely humiliate and degrade our prisoners in sexual ways for kicks, causing immeasurable harm to our side of the propaganda war.
America is strong. Its status as a bona fide superpower has almost lasted a whole century. I doubt it will last much longer than a century and a half. Enjoy it while it lasts, basically. There's nothing particularly about the American way of life, or about the American political system, that will preserve its position.
I'm not prophesying doom, either, just a gradual catching up of other nations and relative loss in political influence.
edited 4th Dec '10 9:54:07 AM by mmysqueeant
Anyway, I like how they bashed Westerwelle in those Cables. Never liked that guy. Although the cables also showed how the FDP stood up against various privacy-invading anti-terror initiatives.
edited 4th Dec '10 10:07:11 AM by DasAuto
Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF DebrisUS blocking wikileaks site - the D Do S is continuing. well restarted
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-knocked-off-net-dns-everydns
backups:
Alternatives:
http://wi.kileaks.com/
http://savewikileaks.dyndns.org/
http://213.251.145.96
http://wikileaks.ch/
http://wikileaks.de/
More info, from Reddit:
For financial support - http://213.251.145.96.nyud.net/support.html
http://46.59.1.2.nyud.net
- Bahnhof Hosted
http://88.80.2.32.nyud.net
- PRQ hosted
http://88.80.13.160.nyud.net
- Collateral Murder site - PRQ hosted
http://213.251.145.96.nyud.net
- OVH Hosted
http://213.251.145.96.nyud.net/cablegate.html
- Cablegate site (thanks brownboy13) - OVH Hosted
http://wikileaks.ch.nyud.net
- Swiss domain redirects to 213.251.145.96 (thanks Feller Feller via twitter)
Edit (8.33am GMT):
- Wikileaks on twitter is trending massively now, like 50 tweets every 15 sec
the US government officially killed the official wikileaks domain
Either way, it is a bit silly to think that taking down Wikileaks' website would actually do anything in this situation. The data that they're releasing is out there and plenty of people can easily find it. It won't take long for them to set up another website if they want to — and while it may be a bit harder for people to find them, to date, the organization hasn't exactly had any problems getting everyone else to promote what they release for them. Whatever the reason is for taking the domain name offline, it's difficult to think it would be effective in stopping Wikileaks in any way. If anything, it just calls that much more attention to the organization.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101202/22322512099/wikileaks-says-its-site-has-been-killed.shtml
edited 4th Dec '10 10:09:16 AM by BalloonFleet
WHASSUP....... ....with lolis!Good that wikileaks.de is still there. Our gov't has been mostly acting cool and calm * about the whole Wikileaks thing, even those that were described unfavorbly in the cables.
Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF Debris

It is basically blackmail throw him into jail anyways we can be embarrassed while he rots.
Who watches the watchmen?