Wikileaks Revelations Threaten U.S. Foreign Policy

Yesterday came the latest secret U.S. government revelations from Wikileaks. Last summer it was military communiques from Afghanistan and Iraq; this time it concerned cables from the Department of State. The release of these documents is potentially extremely damaging to American foreign policy. I'll try to shed some light on a few of the most asked questions I hear from people.

Why is this happening? It starts with the lessons of 9/11, when it was determined that American intelligence knew the information needed to prevent the attacks, but agencies failed to share what they knew with each other so no one was able to "connect the dots." Since then data bases have been made much more accessible by other government agencies, often by people of very junior rank. The young man who has been charged with downloading and passing along the military documents is a private, for instance. Information used to be too compartmentalized; now it is too open.

Can Wikileaks or the other press and media outlets who have printed or posted the data be prosecuted? Probably not. The Pentagon Papers case ruled that the First Amendment of the Constitution enshrines freedom of the press as a nearly sacrosanct right. If someone can get the material to the media the media is allowed to print it. That doesn't hold for those who steal the material from the government and provide it to the press. The young man who is charged with divulging the military documents will probably never see the outside of a prison again. The exception might be if Wikileaks can be proved to have "conspired" with people on the inside to steal the top secret material. Then perhaps someone there could be prosecuted. Attorney General Eric Holder said today his office would be looking for evidence to prosecute wherever it could.

What was the most sensitive revelation? That would likely be that several Arab leaders privately urged the United States to strike Iran and attempt to destroy its nuclear facilities. Arabs and Persians (Iranians) have been ethnic rivals for a long time. They also are religious rivals, with most Arabs following the majority Sunni branch of Islam and most Iranians the Shi'ite branch. A nuclear-armed, aggressive Iran is a nightmare for the Arab states in the region. This indicates a high level of Arab-American accord about Iran, but also underscores how the Arab leaders feel they have to keep these ideas from their people.

Why are some observers calling the release of these documents "a diplomatic 9/11?" That's because of the lack of trust in American confidentiality. If foreign leaders feel they cannot confide sensitive matters privately to the U.S. government without them becoming public, then they will be less likely to deal truthfully or productively with America. This is where the real damage could be done. U.S. security agencies will need to develop more effective protocols on sensitive information and better supervision and screening of access to it. Otherwise foreign partners will stop working with us on much of anything important. That would be the kind of coup that America's enemies would absolutely love to see.