White House Condemns WikiLeaks' Document Release

WikiLeaks' decision to endangers U.S. diplomats, intelligence agents and democratic activists who seek America's help, the White House said Sunday.

Shortly before the statement from presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs, several news organizations posted stories on the Internet based on the hundreds of thousands of classified State Department documents that WikiLeaks had made available to them.

Gibbs said the diplomatic documents, known as cables, contained candid and often incomplete information that didn't express policy and didn't influence decisions.

Still, Gibbs said, such cables could compromise private discussions with foreign governments and opposition leaders and could "deeply impact" U.S. interests as well as those of allies and friends.

Worldwatch: Embarrassing Revelations Abound

"To be clear, such disclosures put at risk our diplomats, intelligence professionals and people around the world who come to the United States for assistance in promoting democracy and open government," he said.

"These documents also may include named individuals who in many cases live and work under oppressive regimes and who are trying to create more open and free societies."

Gibbs said President Barack Obama supports open and accountable government, but the press secretary called the WikiLeaks action "reckless and dangerous" and counter to that goal.

"By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals," Gibbs said.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information."


Links to Leaked Cables:

Cables Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels (NYT)
The US Embassy Cable (Guardian)
A Superpower's View of the World (Spiegel, in English)
Los papeles del Departamento de Estado (El Pais)
Wikileaks: Dans les coulisses de la diplomatie américaine (Le Monde)

[Rajah88]

Julian Assange and Wikileaks have done American citizens a service by making it plain that OUR GOVERNMENT and MILITARY are incompetent and corrupt. OUR GOVERNMENT and MILITARY support that which they CLAIM to oppose.

It is YOUR MONEY being wasted and your sons and daughters dying, folks.

Julian Assange and Wikileaks are NOT the bad guys here. It is our military and our government that are corrupt. They should be held accountable.

The American People have failed to do our job of overseeing government and the military. We owe Assange and Wikileaks a THANK YOU for having done OUR JOB.

[noloyalisti]

We certainly learned from the best, the neocons of the Bushoccio Crime Family. They legitimized war crimes, treason and murder on behalf of us all.

Since we decided not to prosecute those criminals, why prosecute anyone particularly for telling the truth and exposing crimes against humanity?

[buckn]

All content aside; if these documents were actually stolen, then wouldn't passing them along constitute becoming an accessory to the crime? And, if that were the case, then given the nature of the documents, wouldn't that constitute espionage and, if if aided our enemies, treason?
I am not sure that freedom of speech is included in such cases.

[WeHappyFew]

Democracy has always depended on total diplomatic immunity and aside from the war revelations, most of which were pretty much speculated already, this other stuff is so pointless and undermines the very necessary work of the diplomatic corps.

[jxknowles]

I'm starting to think this Wikileaks incident was much needed. We could have used it for the last fifty years. If Arab countries are asking for protection from Iran, let them pony up and pay the bill. We bought their oil for $150/barrel so they could gouge us with $4.50/gallon gas. If they want help, they can fund our defense budget. Federal deficit problem solved.

[cbs_bull]

Thanks to WikiLeaks. We now see more truth and what some people really think than those carefully worded diplomatic talks...

[usveteranscrewed]

Dear friend, I thought you might find my Youtube video 'Geithner Funding Georgian Mafia' interesting and informative. You won't regret watching the video. All the best to you and yours, and God bless America, Patrick.

[PatriotMike3]

This is all part of president Dumbo's plan to eviscerate the U.S. He has presided over the worst economic tailspin since the Great Depression. He has presided over the worst intelligence leaks in U.S. history. His presidency has been marked by blunder after blunder, golf game-during-crisis and expensive trip after taxpayer-funded-spending-spree. What has this Chicago thug done for America??

[watkinsjr2000]

I'm guessing you watch Fox News & listen to Rush Limbaugh quite a bit.Almost nothing in your post is either accurate or presented in the proper context.What has President Obama done for America? Certainly a lot more than George W. Bush ever did.That boob calmly sat in an elementary school classroom reading "My Pet Goat" while the largest attack ever on U.S. soil was occurring. Dubya also got us into an unnecessary & endless occupation of Iraq that was "justified" by totally false claims from the White House. And the economic tailspin you mentioned was something Obama inherited. The reckless fiscal policies of the Bush Administration were far more responsible for the current financial mess than anything Obama has ever done/not done.While you're certainly entitled to your own opinions, you're not entitled to just make up your own facts to justify these opinions.Sorry,but that's what you've done here.

[abhorlibs]

"the economic tailspin you mentioned was something Obama inherited"....
from a democratic congress during Bush's last two years -- which, led by pelosi & reid, and with help from frank and dodd, crashed this economy while denying anything was wrong.
Then obamao came in, quickly spent about $1 trillion on "shovel ready jobs" that weren't there, created a "health care" nightmare, bought up banks and car companies, propped up union retirement funds, and SUED citizens of the State of Arizona, among other stupid friggin' things.
"The police acted stupidly" is an understatement of malfeasance in office when applied to obamao and the dems in congress for the last four years.

[kevjustice]

all the top secret info was released by pfc gomer pyle. he was cleared for access to top secret intelligence.

[keithdraw]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Comdemn-NYTimes/136295486426106?v=wall

[abhorlibs]

More damage than this has been caused by obamao's insults to Great Britain, bowing to leaders in Japan and Arabia, and his apologies around the world for U.S. success, not to mention the economic havoc his policies are wreaking in this country. Global leaders realize what a buffoon America elected two years ago and are shunning his presence and policies.