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20 December 2010
By Ramzy Baroud The WikiLeaks vs. the US
government saga started in July, when 77,000 secret US
documents directly relating to Afghanistan were made
available to major media organizations. Many of us
shook our heads with a mixture of disgust and
vindication. We had long been aware of the brutality
of the war, and the corruption of its benefactors. Now
we finally had written, uncontested proof. The Afghanistan War Logs were
revealing and damning. They were filed by soldiers and
commanders in the field. Despite the largeness of
their size, they constituted a decipherable narrative,
a sorry story to told and discussed. The Iraq War Diaries also
resembled an unmitigated disaster for US war plans.
391,832 classified military documents were published
on October 22, revealing the extent of the calamitous
invasion, occupation and ‘state building' underway in
Iraq. The value of these finds –
representing the largest leak in history – was
unmatched. It effectively brought to an end the
illusion that all was well in Mesopotamia. As with the
Afghanistan documents, these files too constituted a
narrative, albeit an extremely long and disturbing
one. The fact that 15,000 Iraqi deaths are now
officially included in the Iraqi death count is in
itself a remarkable achievement. The leaks regarding Afghanistan
and Iraq were related. The much touted ‘success' of
the surge in Iraq under former US President George W.
Bush is being repeated in Afghanistan under current
President Barack Obama. The same haughtiness,
language, and even strategies are now being
duplicated. Thanks to the logs and diaries, now we
know we are being fed half-truths. We can see through
the dodgy numbers, the fabricated estimations, the
flashy and dishonest language of politicians and
leaders. Never again should anyone claim a lack of
knowledge of civilian casualties, detainee abuse,
corruption, and very shifty war goals. On November 28, the State
Department was faced with another leak and
embarrassment. 250,000 US diplomatic cables were
released, divulging everything from the US' belittling
judgments of the supposedly poor fighting abilities of
British soldiers in Helmand to the unwelcomed
camaraderie between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi,
from Qatar's alleged "(hesitance) to act against known
terrorists" to Hezbollah's alleged attainment of new
and sophisticated weapons through Syria. Much of what has been disclosed
was known, expected or realized through a simple
exercise of deductive reasoning. In the case of
Russia, cables, many of which were disclosed to the
New York Times and four other major international news
outlets, merely demonstrated the limited access
enjoyed by US diplomats in that country. This left
them reliant mostly on third party accounts, and their
own personal interpretations. Their messages, at
times, read like unsophisticated blogs, conceited and
overly judgmental, if not overly personal. In the case of Turkey, which
seems to be the center of American diplomacy, 7,981
leaked documents reflected a predictable hatred and
paranoia towards a country spreading its wings as a
regional power – in a region already claimed by both
Israel and the United States. According to reports,
the comments were almost all negative. Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reportedly described
as an "autocratic Islamist" who surrounds himself with
an "iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous)
advisors." Ahmet Davutoglu, the foreign minister, is
described as "extremely dangerous," with neo-Ottoman
ambitions. While there were numerous
insulting comments about the leaders of almost all the
countries discussed in the cables, some revelations
were particularly suspicious. For one, it seems
strange that Israel, a nuclear-power with ongoing
military adventures was spared much of the
embarrassment. Iran's nuclear program-related
documents were bewildering, as they comprised the only
case with a consistent and consequential narrative.
This was embraced by the Israeli Jerusalem Post, which
described the findings as vindicating to Israel
(because the leaks alleged that the desire to
eliminate Iran's nuclear program was also shared by
others in the region). The timing of this revelation
seems suspicious, in light of Iran's scheduled nuclear
talks in Geneva, and the increasingly warming of
relations between Iran and various Arab countries. It
seems as if someone, or some entity, wants to enliven
the conflict with Iran, and spread it throughout the
Middle East. There was also allegation, made
by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the
Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas was informed in
advance of the deadly war unleashed on the
impoverished Gaza Strip, which killed and wounded
thousands. Even if someone chooses to trust a source
like Barak, there are still no surprises here.
Palestinian officials in Ramallah openly coordinate
‘security' and other issues with their Israeli
counterparts at a time that Gaza continues to face the
harshness of siege. The Palestinian Authority's
unflattering conduct requires no leaks. The Turkish mainstream daily
Aksam dubbed the leaks "The September 11 of
Diplomacy". And like September 11, the leaks will
likely reverberate in their impact on the
international stage for years to come. There is no
question that the embarrassing disclosures would make
every world government thinks twice before sharing any
new intelligence with US officials. The US officials
will think twice before choosing their words. But that aside, it must be stated
that some US diplomats – unlike the top politicians in
Washington – seem to in fact hold themselves
accountable to the declared policy of their
government. Their repeated emphasis on democracy,
corruption, and so on in their private messages
indicate that they are genuinely focused on these
issues, despite the fact that they serve a largely
frivolous and propagandist role in the overall policy
of the US government. Finally, one must admit that,
unlike the Afghanistan and Iraq leaks, the latest
revelations were of hardly any service to the cause of
justice and global peace. They simply showed the inner
workings of US diplomacy, with all of its good points,
flaws, limits and shortcomings. Despite their high
number, the documents raised many questions, but
actually answered few. They only confirmed existing
beliefs, ranging from the widespread corruption in
Afghanistan to Berlusconi's "frequent late nights and
penchant for partying." But since more are coming, one
can only wait and see… - Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net)
is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the
editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is
My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story
(Pluto Press, London), now
available on Amazon.com. |
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