A massive document dump – more than 250,000 U.S diplomatic cables made public Sunday by WikiLeaks – sent shock waves around the globe as the Obama administration coped with the fallout of revelations ranging from stunning to salacious as its policies and methods of dealing with friends and foes were embarrassingly laid bare.
The trove reveals candid assessments of foreign leaders, secret details of the global anti-terrorist campaign and embarrassing details of American diplomats gathering sordid details of the sex lives of foreign leaders.
Canada barely rates a mention, so far. The documents were apparently stolen earlier by someone inside the U.S. government with the security clearance and the computer access to classified files.
Among the revelations in the secret diplomatic messages: America’s close Arab allies have urged it to strike Iran – by bombing nuclear sites and decapitating the ruling Islamic theocracy; cyberwarriors from China’s communist politburo have attacked U.S. government computer networks.
“Cut off the head of the snake," King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said, referring to Tehran, a call to arms he has repeatedly made to both the Bush and Obama administrations. It was a bellicose call, one echoed by Egyptian and other Arab leaders who regard the rising Iranian power across the gulf as an ``existential threat.”
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