Monday, November 29, 2010

A Word On The WikiLeaks Scandal


I've been watching with some interest the diplomatic scandal that now surrounds the US government following the leak of around 250,000 classified documents. There have been frank and unflattering opinions about various world leaders and figures, incitements by Arab rulers for an attack against Iran, and much more which will emerge as people sift through the enormous quantity of data now made available. One thing that I have also discerned from some of the documents I have read, is the fact that the Gulf states themselves are constantly plotting and scheming against one another. This is not a surprise, and actually the machiavellian perspective of the region and the world that I have always believed is the standard is now upheld.

I expect that the 'damage' of this leak will quickly be hushed over, and not just by the United States but also by the governments that it has mentioned or dealt with. This is a scandal that might happen to any one of them, and they all recognise that for the sake of stability and future work together, they must all hush it up and carry on with business. What I find particularly interesting about this entire saga is that we now have the opportunity to cross-reference meetings and key-dates surrounding specific areas of interest, and can gain a clearer picture of what was happening behind the scenes at the time. This may help students of politics to understand how future decisions and events might be shaped.

I don't believe for an instance that this is an 'engineered' leak, ridiculous rumours of this type are, even at this early stage, already beginning to take shape. I don't like the person who runs WikiLeaks, I think he is a slimeball, and I don't like the United States government much either. Still, in a dirty game with dirty players, dirty things will happen. Whether or not one thinks that such leaks may provoke wars or cost lives is not of concern. These things can and will happen and one must therefore always expect the unexpected to crop up every now and then. I intend to take this incident as it is, and, of course, enjoy the show...

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