Unlike the New York Times: A few days before the cables’ release, two senior figures from the US embassy in Grosvenor Square called in to the Guardian‘s London offices for a chat. This discussion led to a surreal transatlantic telephone call on Friday 26 November – two days before launch. Alan Rusbridger agreed to ring…
Showing all posts tagged Iran
Wikileaks shows that Egypt/US cuddling achieved little positive
Wikileaks cables released this week show the real relationship between Washington and Cairo, a toxic brew of money, slight pressure, fear of Islamism and reliability. Who needed whom more? US diplomats and their masters never imagined a different Egypt because they never wanted it to happen. It suited America just fine. The real rights of…
Let’s not forget Israel loves autocrats to maintain its life
How does the Zionist state survive in the Middle East? Bribery, pressure, money and US backing. Nothing about democracy or rights or decency. And Egypt has been central to this for decades. So now what? Aluf Benn writes in Haaretz that Tel Aviv may have a few problems on its hands. Friends? More money may…
Washington, backing Facebook in Egypt isn’t quite enough
Here’s some free advice to the US State Department; trying to keep Twitter or Facebook or other social networking sites alive inside dictatorships is a fine task but have you stopped for a minute and wondered what citizens think when your own government has backed these brutes? The State Department has been working furiously and…
Poking the eye of Ahmadinejad
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Australians have the right to know how our leaders “lead”
Scott Burchill, in an ongoing series dedicated to the issues surrounding Wikileaks that the media is ignoring, reminds us of the various ways Australian governments over the last decades have attempted to keep information secret that we have the right to know. Note how few journalists today are leading this kind of charge: Asserting the…
North Korea and Iran sitting in a tree…
Wikileaks is providing profoundly significant news day after day (and thanks to Greg Mitchell at The Nation for keeping the fires burning): A US diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks over the weekend says North Korea has likely received 2-and-a-half million US dollars for weapons sold to Iran through the Seoul branch of Iran’s Bank Mellat.…
30 nations backing Iran to build the bomb?
Many Wikileaks cables are fascinating but not necessarily reflecting the truth. This one, on Iran’s supposed rush for a nuclear bomb, is written by US officials with many reasons for telling their masters that Tehran is an evil nation pursuing evil means. It may be true, of course: Iran has been developing contacts in more…
The Supreme Leader may have nimble fingers
Is the Iranian regime trying to be a hypocritical laughing stock? A Twitter account believed to belong to Iran‘s supreme leader has triggered controversy among Iranians whose own access to social networking websites remains blocked. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man who has the final word in Iran, has come under intense criticism from Iran’s many…
No, Bibi, Iran only threatens your self-importance
Israel doesn’t really learn very well. After the outgoing Mossad chief said that Iran isn’t really a threat now or in the foreseeable future, here’s Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu saying the exact opposite. He’s best ignored. Better still, mocked: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told foreign journalists Tuesday that the American diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks…