Good evening, Netizens...

There are a lot of very important people from around the world who would like to get their hands on Australian Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, right now. Depending upon where you hear it, Assange is either a criminal suitable for the nearest federal prison or else a leading candidate for Time Magazine's Man of the Year.

Unlike the Afghanistan war logs which were released in July, setting the entire world to buzzing like a nest full of angry bees, with their tales of killed civilians, dead children, confused soldiers, and mounting chaos, the latest release of U.S. Embassy cables are not at all what most are saying.

They are not, as Hillary Clinton has stated, “an attack on America's foreign policy interests that has endangered innocent people.” Nor are they, as the Italian foreign minster has stated, “the September 11 of world diplomacy. It seems the diplomat wagon train are circling the wagons in denial.

Incredible as it might seem, I have been unable to locate any proof these cables are “top secret”, because several million government employees are cleared to see them. In fact, according to several sources, 500,000 government employees have access to the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRnet) where the cables are stored. I cannot fathom how or why, given the encryption capabilities we as citizens have at our disposal, are not better-protected, but that horse is already out of the barn, I fear.

What makes these cables so important in the face of history is that they once more lift up our collective eyesight to the $2.8 billion dollars a week America is spending on the War in Afghanistan, the number of lives that have been lost thus far and the ongoing erosion of our national security. They open up the blinds so we can clearly see President Karzai who has pardoned drug dealers. Perhaps that is because his half-brother is a corrupt drug dealer. The former vice-president of Afghanistan was stopped in Dubai carrying $52 million in cash which he was allowed to keep. No questions asked.

There is a lot of ugliness which Assange has already exposed, and he has promised that more releases are forthcoming. Just for once it is nice to hear the unexpurgated truth about where our nation stands in the world. Do intelligence forces in Pakistan, for example, have a close relationship with our sworn enemies, the Taliban?

When we begin answering these and other questions, suddenly the worth and value of the WikiLeaks releases take on a whole new sense of importance. Of course your opinions may differ.

Dave

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