Hunt WikiLeaks Chief Down Like Osama bin Laden: Sarah Palin Demands Assange Is Treated Like Al Qaeda Terrorist
MAIL ONLINE: U.S. launches criminal investigation into Assange / Australia looks into whether he has broken local laws / 39-year-old is already facing rape inquiries in Sweden

Attack: Republican Sarah Palin (left) has claimed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be treated like a terrorist. Photographs: Mail Online
Sarah Palin has demanded that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is hunted down like Osama bin Laden.

In an extraordinary outburst on Facebook, the former Alaska governor attacked the White House for 'incompetent handling of this whole fiasco.'

'First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months?.' she wrote.

'Assange is not a "journalist," any more than the "editor" of al Qaeda's new English-language magazine Inspire is a "journalist."

'He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands.

'His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban.

'Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?'

Palin claimed that the administration's inability to hunt down Assange showed a lack of effort. Read on and comment >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Julian Assange has done us all a big favour by publishing this information, more especially by exposing the hypocrisy of those at the top. If those at the top had behaved properly, and with integrity, then they'd have nothing to fear. The so-called élite seem to think that they can keep information from the "little people". Well, they can't anymore! The internet has changed all that. Now we can look forward to more open journalism. I applaud Julian Assange for this. Sarah Palin, as usual, doesn't know what on earth she's talking about. In actual fact, Julian Assange has done the USA a great favour too. By showing us that China favours a re-unified Korea, and Iran weakened by the Ayatollah's cancer, we might well be able to avert two wars. Now wouldn't that be a good thing? Hats off to Julian! – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Moo! >>>

Wikileaks Founder Leads Race to Be Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, is leading the race to become Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2010.

Mr Assange, the Australian-born former hacker and computer programmer, currently tops a list which includes Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Steve Jobs, the Chilean miners, Lady Gaga and "The Unemployed American" in its top 10.

David Cameron, is in 13th place, one spot behind Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Last month Wikileaks published nearly 400,000 field reports by American soldiers in Iraq, That followed the publication in July of 77,000 secret US documents on the war in Afghanistan.

The website, which styles itself "the first intelligence agency of the people," was founded in Dec 2006. >>> Nick Allen in Los Angeles | Friday, November 12, 2010

Burqa Approved for Swimming in Western Australia
GATES OF VIENNA: The Western Australian health authorities have decided to make an exception for burqa-like swimwear in public swimming pools, on the basis of religious beliefs. Past complaints have cost them dearly in civil lawsuit payouts, so an adjustment to the official policy became necessary.

If non-Muslims were to wear similar clothing, it would be considered unhygienic, and they would not be allowed in the pool. But the magic of Islam can perform many wonders, and one of them seems to be to reverse bad hygiene. Say the shahada, and presto! The bacteria flee from the scene. Read on and comment >>> Baron Bodissey | Tuesday, November 30, 2010

La diplomatie américaine secouée par la tempête WikiLeaks
Le combat de Julian Assange, fondateur de WikiLeaks, contre les Etats-Unis. Photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Après les révélations de WikiLeaks, les Etats-Unis vont devoir offrir des garanties de confidentialité à leurs interlocuteurs à travers le monde pour regagner la confiance

Y a-t-il une vie pour les diplomates après les mégarévélations de WikiLeaks? Alors que le site continue de déballer, au goutte à goutte, les 251 287 câbles diplomatiques plus ou moins secrets originaires des ambassades américaines, voilà la diplomatie mondiale convertie en un immense territoire de ragots. Aux quatre coins du monde, les premières réactions sont plutôt à tenter de minimiser l’importance de ces fuites, parfois à en rire (le rire jaune de Silvio Berlusconi qualifié de «macho») ou à les mettre, comme en Iran, sur le compte d’une vaste «machination» américaine. Mais à Washington même, ce déballage intime n’a pas fini de laisser des traces.

«Un rêve pour les historiens, un cauchemar pour les diplomates», résumait le Britannique Timothy Garton Ash, qui fait partie des heureux historiens voyant défiler aujourd’hui devant leurs yeux des wagons entiers de matériel brut dont ils ne pouvaient jusqu’ici que rêver. >>> Luis Lema | Mardi 30 Novembre 2010

“War Is Terror” – Danish Peace Activists

Christians Caught in Jewish-Muslim Crossfire

WikiLeaks: 'Cocky' Duke of York Told to Steer Clear of Policy Issues by Vince Cable
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Duke of York has been warned to avoid commenting on policy issues after his candid views on anti-corruption investigations were made public by WikiLeaks.


Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said that corruption investigations were "not a matter" for the Duke, adding that it would be "helpful" if he steered clear of policy issues in future.

Mr Cable was speaking after leaked documents showed that the Duke, Britain's trade envoy, described the British government as "stupid" during a business brunch at which he surprised an American ambassador with his foul language.

The Duke also railed against the “idiocy” of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into allegations of bribery surrounding BAE Systems and spoke “cockily” in a discussion that “verged on the rude”, according to the ambassador. >>> Gordon Rayner, Robert Winnett and Toby Harnden in Washington | Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Spiegel Online International Photo Gallery
King Abdullah of Saudi-Arabia: According to an embassy dispatch, he can't stand his neighbors in Iran and, expressing his disdain for mullahs in Tehran, said "there is no doubt something unstable about them." Photograph: Spiegel Online International
Mehriban Aliyeva (second from right), the wife of Azerbaijan leader Ilham Aliyev: She has had so much plastic surgery that it is possible to confuse her for one of her daughters from a distance, but that she can barely still move her face, according to US embassy dispatches. Photograph: Spiegel Online International
To the gallery >>>

WikiLeaks plant Enthüllung über US-Großbank
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die von WikiLeaks veröffentlichten US-Botschaftsdepeschen rütteln die Welt auf - schon kündigt die Internetplattform neue Enthüllungen an. Als nächstes will Gründer Julian Assange Zehntausende interne Dokumente aus einer großen US-Bank ins Netz stellen.

Washington - Berlin, Washington, London, Rom, Paris, Moskau - weltweit sorgt die Veröffentlichung Hunderttausender US-Diplomatendepeschen für Aufregung. Prompt kündigt WikiLeaks den nächsten Coup an: Seine Internetplattform werde Zehntausende interne Dokumente aus einer großen US-Bank veröffentlichen, "die ein oder zwei Banken in die Tiefe reißen" könnten, sagte WikiLeaks-Gründer Julian Assange dem US-Magazin "Forbes". Die Dokumente sollten "Anfang kommenden Jahres" im Internet veröffentlicht werden. Sie würden unter anderem zeigen, wie auf Führungsetagen der Banken gegen die Ethik verstoßen werde.

Die Offenlegung des Materials eröffne "wahre und repräsentative Einsichten, wie sich Banken auf der Management-Ebene verhalten", sagte Assange. "Man kann es das Ökosystem der Korruption nennen." Die Folge der Veröffentlichung dürften "vermutlich Untersuchungen und Reformen sein". Die Dokumente enthüllten "ungeheuerliche Übertretungen" und "unethische Praktiken". Gegenstand des Materials seien aber auch "die unterstützenden Entscheidungsstrukturen und die interne Ethik des Managements". Assange betonte jedoch, dass noch unklar sei, ob es sich hier um kriminelle Vorgänge handele. "Ich kann nur sagen, dass es klar um unethische Praktiken geht." Man sei sehr vorsichtig damit, Leute als kriminell zu etikettieren, bis man sehr sicher sei.

Der Australier verglich in dem Interview die anstehende Veröffentlichung mit den E-Mails, die im Zusammenhang mit dem Enron-Unternehmensskandal ans Licht kamen. Der einst zehntgrößte US-Konzern hatte 2001 nach einem Bilanzbetrug einen Insolvenzantrag gestellt - Auftakt einer ganzen Reihe von Betrugsfällen, die die US-Wirtschaft in den folgenden beiden Jahren erschütterten. Ecuador bietet Assange Asyl an >>> anr/dpa/AFP/dapd | Dienstag, 30. November 2010

British Police Issue Warning Before Protests
THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON (Reuters) — The British police have warned students not to use violence in demonstrations on Tuesday against a planned increase in tuition fees, after clashes during two previous days of protests.

Organizers are calling for university and secondary school students to take to the streets in what they are calling a “national day of action” against plans by the Conservative-led coalition government to almost triple tuition, up to $14,500 a year.

“November 30 will see even more students come out on protest across the country,” the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts said in a statement. The organizers said that about 24,000 had promised to participate.

Protesters smashed windows and started fires at the building housing the Conservative Party’s headquarters in London during a march this month, and scuffles and vandalism took place in London during protests last week. >>> Reuters | Monday, November 29, 2010

Cables Depict U.S. Haggling to Find Takers for Detainees
THE NEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON — Last year, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia proposed an unorthodox way to return Guantánamo Bay prisoners to a chaotic country like Yemen without fear that they would disappear and join a terrorist group.

The king told a top White House aide, John O. Brennan, that the United States should implant an electronic chip in each detainee to track his movements, as is sometimes done with horses and falcons.

“Horses don’t have good lawyers,” Mr. Brennan replied.

That unusual discussion in March 2009 was one of hundreds recounted in a cache of secret State Department cables obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to a number of news organizations that reveal the painstaking efforts by the United States to safely reduce the population of the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba so that it could eventually be closed.

American diplomats went looking for countries that were not only willing to take in former prisoners but also could be trusted to keep them under close watch. In a global bazaar of sorts, the American officials sweet-talked and haggled with their foreign counterparts in an effort to resettle the detainees who had been cleared for release but could not be repatriated for fear of mistreatment, the cables show. >>> Charlie Savage and Andrew W. Lehren | Monday, November 29, 2010

China Ready To Abandon North Korea
Diplomatic despatches released by Wikileaks suggest China is ready to abandon its support for North Korea and see it reunited with the South

US Official 'Shocked' By Behaviour Of Prince

SKY NEWS: Read on and comment >>> Carole Erskine, Sky News Online | Tuesday, November 30, 2010

WikiLeaks: Ayatollah Khameni Has Terminal Cancer
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran's Supreme Leader has terminal cancer and could die within months US officials were told by a well-placed Iranian informant, diplomatic cables show.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Ayatollah Khamenei, the chief religious leader of Iran, who holds the final word in state affairs is a hardliner well-known to be hostile to America. Details of the health and lifestyle of the 71-year old are shrouded in secrecy.

Any credible information that he was dying would fundamentally change the diplomatic stakes in negotiations between Tehran and its Western adversaries.

The US consulate in Istanbul reported in August, 2009 that a businessman close to Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former Iranian president, that the Supreme Leader had been diagnosed with a fatal form of Leukaemia. The source said Ayatollah Rafsanjani believed his great rival would be dead in a "matter of months". >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, November 29, 2010

WikiLeaks: Julian Assange Accuses Barack Obama Of Trying To Stifle Press Freedom
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, accused President Barack Obama of trying to stifle press freedom.

He said the Obama administration had a record of arresting whistle-blowers and had become “a regime that doesn’t believe in the freedom of the press and doesn’t act like it believes it”.

Mr Assange, 39, made the comments in a short mobile phone video which he filmed from a secret location in London. He stayed out of the spotlight, in contrast to his high-profile press conferences accompanying earlier releases on his website, after being made the subject of an international arrest warrant over allegations of rape. >>> Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Tuesday, November 30, 2010

US Embassy Cables Flush Out Royal Gossip
THE GUARDIAN: Nuggets of diplomatic 'news' about Prince Charles, Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew found in leaked dispatches

Diana, the Princess of Wales. Photograph: The Guardian
Read on and comment >>> David Leigh and Robert Booth | Monday, November 29, 2010

WikiLeaks: The Revolution Has Begun – And It Will Be Digitised
THE GUARDIAN – EXTRACTS: The web is changing the way in which people relate to power, and politics will have no choice but to adapt too

Diplomacy has always involved dinners with ruling elites, backroom deals and clandestine meetings. Now, in the digital age, the reports of all those parties and patrician chats can be collected in one enormous database. And once collected in digital form, it becomes very easy for them to be shared.

…

Leaks are not the problem; they are the symptom. They reveal a disconnect between what people want and need to know and what they actually do know. The greater the secrecy, the more likely a leak. The way to move beyond leaks is to ensure a robust regime for the public to access important information.

Thanks to the internet, we have come to expect a greater level of knowledge and participation in most areas of our lives. Politics, however, has remained resolutely unreconstructed. Politicians, see themselves as parents to a public they view as children – a public that cannot be trusted with the truth, nor with the real power that knowledge brings.

…

This is a revolution, and all revolutions create fear and uncertainty. Will we move to a New Information Enlightenment or will the backlash from those who seek to maintain control no matter the cost lead us to a new totalitarianism? What happens in the next five years will define the future of democracy for the next century, so it would be well if our leaders responded to the current challenge with an eye on the future. >>> Heather Brooks | Monday, November 29, 2010

Hillary Clinton Questions Cristina Kirchner's Mental Health
THE GUARDIAN: Secret cable sent to US embassy in Argentina asks diplomats to find out how president handles stress

The embassy cable questioning the mental health of Cristina Kirchner has been leaked at a sensitive time in US-Argentinian relations. Photograph: The Guardian
Hillary Clinton has questioned the mental health of Cristina Kirchner and asked US diplomats to investigate whether the Argentinian president is taking medication to help her "calm down".

The US secretary of state painted Kirchner as a volatile and emotional leader who suffered from "nerves and anxiety", according to a secret cable sent to the US embassy in Buenos Aires.

Clinton asked diplomats a series of questions in December last year which could infuriate Kirchner and sabotage a recent rapprochement between Argentina and America.

In a section headed "mental state and health" she asked how the first lady-turned president was managing "her nerves and anxiety" in a blunt tone which suggested US concerns.

"How does stress affect her behaviour toward advisers and/or her decision-making? What steps does Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner or her advisers/handlers take in helping her deal with stress? Is she taking any medications?

"Under what circumstances is she best able to handle stresses? How do Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's emotions affect her decision-making and how does she calm down when distressed?"

The cable appeared to have been prompted by diplomatic spats which, according to the US embassy, showed Kirchner's government "to be extremely thin-skinned and intolerant of perceived criticism". >>> Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent | Monday, November 29, 2010

WikiLeaks Cables 'Attacks World Community'

Queen Continues Gulf Trip [Nov. 26] With Stop In Oman
The Queen impresses the Sultan of Oman with her art knowledge as she continues her five-day state visit to the Gulf

WikiLeaks Cables: 'Rude' Prince Andrew Shocks US Ambassador
THE GUARDIAN: Duke railed against France, British anti-corruption investigations into BAE and American ignorance, leaked dispatches reveal

Prince Andrew spoke 'cockily' at a business brunch in Kyrgyzstan, a leaked WikiLeaks cable claimed. Photograph: The Guardian
Prince Andrew launched a scathing attack on British anti-corruption investigators, journalists and the French during an "astonishingly candid" performance at an official engagement that shocked a US diplomat.

Tatiana Gfoeller, Washington's ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, recorded in a secret cable that Andrew spoke "cockily" at the brunch with British and Canadian business people, leading a discussion that "verged on the rude".

During the two-hour engagement in 2008 at a hotel in the capital, Bishkek, Andrew, who travels the globe as a special UK trade representative, attacked Britain's corruption investigators in the Serious Fraud Office for what he called "idiocy".

He went on to denounce Guardian reporters investigating bribery as "those [expletive] journalists … who poke their noses everywhere".

In the cable from the US embassy to Washington in October 2008, Gfoeller wrote: "Rude language a la British … [Andrew] turned to the general issue of promoting British economic interests abroad. He railed at British anti-corruption investigators, who had had the 'idiocy' of almost scuttling the Al-Yamama deal with Saudi Arabia."

The prince, she explained, "was referencing an investigation, subsequently closed, into alleged kickbacks a senior Saudi royal had received in exchange for the multi-year, lucrative BAE Systems contract to provide equipment and training to Saudi security forces."

The dispatch continued: "His mother's subjects seated around the table roared their approval. He then went on to 'these (expletive) journalists, especially from the National [sic] Guardian, who poke their noses everywhere' and (presumably) make it harder for British businessmen to do business. The crowd practically clapped." Read on and comment >>> David Leigh, Heather Brooke and Rob Evans | Monday, November 29, 2010

The Swiss Have Voted to Deport Foreign Criminals Automatically. Let's Copy Them
The Swiss have had their say on excluding foreign criminals. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – ALEX SINGLETON: The Swiss know how to stand up for themselves. In a referendum yesterday, they voted in favour of the automatic deportation of foreigners who commit serious crimes. Needless to say, the latte liberals at Amnesty International are appalled and – revealing their utter contempt for democracy – are calling on Swiss politicians to ignore the will of the people.

Amnesty’s reasoning is that deportations could cause convicts to be sent back to countries where they could face persecution. But this is a ridiculous argument: no one is forcing visitors to Switzerland to commit offences. If people don’t want to be sent back home, why don’t they just desist from rape, robbery, murder and fraud? The new Swiss policy is so obviously a sensible idea that we ought to copy it here. >>> Alex Singleton | Monday, November 29, 2010

Mr. Singleton suggests that we should follow the lead of the Swiss, and also deport foreign criminals. I agree with him: We should. But there’s one big problem: The British are bereft of organizational skills. In fact, they couldn’t organize a sex orgy in a brothel! – © Mark

The Lessons of the Puritans

Is China Reading Your eMail?

News Leaks In ‘Public’s Interest’

Feds Open Criminal Investigation Into WikiLeaks Disclosures

U.S. On Damage Control After WikiLeaks Dump
White House working to minimize fallout from release of sensitive diplomatic documents

Wikileaks : observer le régime iranien et ses méthodes d'intimidation
L'ayathollah iranien Ali Khamenei, Guide suprême, en mars 2010. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Les Etats-Unis ayant rompu leurs relations diplomatiques avec l'Iran en 1980, après la prise d'otages à l'ambassade américaine de Téhéran, la diplomatie de Washington doit s'appuyer, pour observer le régime, sur des contacts et des informations obtenus par ses ambassades ailleurs dans la région. Un réseau de "Iran Watchers", chargés de surveiller les événements en Iran, est ainsi révélé par la masse des télégrammes diplomatiques.

Il ressort des documents du département d'Etat obtenus par WikiLeaks et révélés par Le Monde que la complexité et l'opacité du régime iranien sont, pour les Américains, une énigme. Ils guettent le moindre indice. Par exemple, ces informations livrées en août 2009, par un contact dans une république d'Asie centrale. A l'époque, les remous politiques en Iran semblent à leur apogée, après la réélection contestée, en juin, du président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. >>> Le Monde | Dimanche 28 Novembre 2010

Des musulmans de Suisse cherchent à contrer l'interdiction des minarets
Un minaret à Bussigny, près de Lausanne. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Le Conseil central islamique suisse a annoncé, lundi, le lancement d'une initiative populaire visant à abolir l'interdiction des minarets. La votation sur l'interdiction des minarets est intervenue il y a un an à l'initiative de l'UDC (droite nationaliste populiste), qui a remporté dimanche une nouvelle victoire en faisant approuver le durcissement du renvoi des étrangers criminels.

"Si on veut abolir l'interdiction des minarets en Suisse, il faut le faire en empruntant la même voie utilisée pour introduire cette interdiction", expliquent dans un communiqué les représentants du CCIS. Un comité d'initiative "le plus large possible" doit être créé d'ici à la fin décembre 2010 au plus tard. Des contacts ont été pris avec différents acteurs des milieux politiques, culturels et scientifiques. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Lundi 29 Novembre 2010

Datendesaster erschüttert Washington
Bild: Spiegel ONline
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die ganze Welt kann nachlesen, wie Amerikas Außenpolitik funktioniert - die Enthüllung der Geheimdepeschen schockiert US-Diplomaten: Sie müssen nun wütende Kollegen in vielen Ländern besänftigen. Experten sehen die Beziehungen zwischen Botschaftern und ihren Gastländern schwer beschädigt.

Die Veröffentlichung von mehr als 250.000 vertraulichen Dokumenten des US-Außenministeriums durch die Internetplattform WikiLeaks hat Amerikas Hauptstadt in helle Aufregung versetzt. Die Enthüllung, die auch die Schlagzeilen von Medien in aller Welt bestimmt, schockiert vor allem Diplomaten.

"Diese Datenpanne ist ein schwerer Schlag für die US-Diplomatie", sagte Charles Kupchan, früher im Nationalen Sicherheitsrat des Weißen Hauses für Europa zuständig, SPIEGEL ONLINE. Die Enthüllung blamiere Washington. Nun würden Informanten wohl kaum noch mit amerikanischen Diplomaten sprechen wollen - aus Angst, die Unterredungen könne bald jeder nachlesen. >>> Von Gregor Peter Schmitz, Washington | Montag, 29. November 2010

Wikileaks-Enthüllung ist für Araber brandgefährlich
WELT ONLINE: Die veröffentlichten Dokumente offenbaren knallharte Positionen der Regierenden aus den arabischen Staaten gegen den Iran.

Angespannte Beziehungen: Mubarak (Ägypten, l.) und Abdullah (Saudi-Arabien) versus Ahmadinedschad (Iran, r.) Bild: Welt Online
Die arabischen Regime sind nach dem jüngsten Wikileaks-Coup in eine Art Schockstarre gefallen. Denn die von der Internet-Plattform Wikileaks publizierten Dokumente der Diplomaten ohne Maulkorb sind für sie nicht nur peinlich, sondern zum Teil auch politisch brandgefährlich.

Geheime Depeschen über die dralle ukrainische Krankenschwester des libyschen Revolutionsführers Muammar al-Gaddafi mögen vielleicht einen Wutanfall in Tripolis nach sich ziehen. Wirklich brisant sind sie nicht.

Doch der Dauerkonflikt zwischen sunnitischen und schiitischen Muslimen im Irak, im Jemen, im Libanon, in Saudi-Arabien und Bahrain könnte durch die nun bekanntgewordenen Berichte aus den arabischen Hauptstädten weiter eskalieren. Das ohnehin schon große Misstrauen der Araber untereinander dürfte wieder zunehmen, was die Beilegung der vielen Krisen in der Region weiter erschweren dürfte – von der Palästina-Frage bis hin zum Krieg der Houthi-Rebellen gegen die jemenitische Regierung. >>> dpa/ab | Montag, 29. November 2010

WikiLeaks Is Threatening National Security, Says Downing Street
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The leak of thousands of confidential diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks is damaging to national security, Downing Street said today.

King Abdullah of Sauid Arabia, US Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
David Cameron’s officials have been briefed personally by the United States ambassador to London as No10 braces for further embarrassing revelations from WikiLeaks throughout this week.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: "Clearly we condemn the unauthorised release of classified information. The leaks and their publication are damaging to national security in the United States and in Britain, and elsewhere.

“It's important that governments are able to operate on the basis of confidentiality of information.”

Asked what it was that was “damaging” the spokesman added: "It has the potential to be damaging (to national security) but the very fact that this is inhibiting the conduct of governments ... governments need to be able to operate on a confidential basis when dealing with this kind of information, and the very fact that it is being leaked is damaging."

However, No10 stopped short of backing calls from US politicians to declare WikiLeaks a terrorist organisation. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Monday, November 29, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: WikiLeaks US embassy cables: live updates >>>

U.S. Fears Iran Has Long-range Missile

Is Obama Losing Israel's Respect?
Deputy speaker of the Knesset weighs in

First Details of Damaging Leaks

FOX NEWS: U.S. in Damage Control After Vast Leak of Diplomatic Cables: WASHINGTON -- The release of more than 250,000 classified State Department documents forced the Obama administration into damage control, trying to contain fallout from unflattering assessments of world leaders and revelations about backstage U.S. diplomacy. >>> Associated Press | Monday, November 29, 2010

US Skeptical About Turkey's Reliability As A Partner
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan arrive for a reception at the G20 summit in Seoul November 11, 2010. Photograph: International Business Times
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: The U.S. has many doubts about its long-term ally Turkey's dependability as a partner, according to diplomatic cables that were leaked by WikiLeaks on Sunday evening.

Confidential cables from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara describe Islamist tendencies in the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Germany's Der Spiegel, which received some of the leaked documents, said.
The Turkish leadership is depicted as divided, and PM Erdogan's advisers, as well as Foreign Minister Ahmeet Davutoglu, are portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Ankara, the magazine said.

Turkey and the U.S. shared a cordial relationship since 1947, when U.S. guaranteed the security of Turkey and Greece from Soviet forces. Turkey remained a close ally of the U.S. through the Cold War and through the late 1990s and post-World Trade attacks in the U.S.

Cordial relationship with the U.S. was believed to be crucial to Turkey's security.
However, the relationship has been strained since the Iraq war, as Turkey grows warier about the creation of an independent Kurdish state. >>> IB Times Staff Reporter | Monday, November 29, 2010

Explosive! WikiLeaks Document Dump Exposes Muslim Governments' Hypocrisy
THE HUFFINGTON POST: WikiLeaks is in the process of dramatically transforming foreign affairs and international relations. It is revealing over 250,000 cables from US embassies worldwide to the State department and other classified documents. The consequences of this 'mega-scoop' will be very far reaching indeed.



For the United States the issues are both strategic as well as ethical. On a strategic level the leaks -- which expose frank assessment of foreign leaders by senior American officials and American thinking on many critical issues -- will complicate Obama administration's ability to deal with its allies and may increase global cynicism about US intentions.



Many of the allies will be angry and distrustful. They will also be afraid of being candid in the future. All players in the future will be trying to second-guess each other, unwilling to articulate what their real intentions and goals are. After all, nobody wishes to read a summary of their confidential dialogue with Americans in the New York Times. The revelations may also reverse many of the hard earned diplomatic gains made by the State department over the years in acquiring support for US policies from many nations.



On the ethical level, the key question is: What will the American public do with the knowledge that the US government has allies who are known criminals; that it says one thing in public and pursues another policy in reality; that bullying seems to be a standard operating procedure and intervening in every affair seems to be a natural instinct of US foreign policy. Will the Senate, or the House, call for hearings to hold the administration accountable? Will there be a public outcry?



The revelations so far about the Muslim world are eye opening. Muslims, even some American Muslims have raised criticism of American foreign policy to the level of religious ritual. Often Muslim radicalism and alienation is explained as a direct consequence of US foreign policy alone (the point being that US foreign policy is anti-Islam and subversive to Muslim nations). Therefore Muslim anger and radicalism against the U.S. while often expressed in unjustifiable ways is still understandable.



But now that the shenanigans of Muslim nations, most importantly their collusion with America's so called anti-Islam foreign policy, is exposed, what will Muslims do? Will they also hate Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar and other nations just as much as they hate America? Or will they recognize that nation states have interests and they pursue them in whatever ways they can; and understand that US foreign policy neither advances nor targets any religion? Read on and comment >>> Muqtedar Khan, Associate Professor of Islam and Global Affairs at the University of Delaware | Sunday, November 28, 2010

Muqtedar Khan’s website >>>

Wikileaks Releases Diplomatic Memos
SKY NEWS: Hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic messages sent by American government officials around the world have been published online by the Wikileaks website.


BBC: Wikileaks cables: key issues >>> | Monday, November 29, 2010

WikiLeaks >>>

WikiLeaks déclenche une tempête dans les capitales mondiales
LE MONDE: Comme il y a quelques mois avec les documents sur la guerre en Irak et en Afghanistan, les révélations de WikiLeaks, publiées dimanche par plusieurs journaux, dont Le Monde, mettent Washington dans l'embarras.

Jusqu'au bout, les Etats-Unis ont tenté de différer la publication de ces mémorandums diplomatiques confidentiels, mettant en garde contre les dangers qu'ils pourraient faire peser pour des vies américaines dans le monde. Dans le même temps, les ambassades américaines multipliaient les contacts pour prévenir les pays mis en cause des révélations potentielles.

Une fois les documents divulgués, la Maison Blanche n'a pu que condamner "dans les termes les plus forts" la publication "irresponsable et dangereuse" de ces données, insistant sur le fait que "de telles révélations font courir des risques à nos diplomates, aux membres de la communauté du renseignement, et aux gens du monde entier qui font appel aux Etats-Unis pour les aider à promouvoir la démocratie et un gouvernement transparent" (lire l'intégralité du communiqué). >>> Le Monde.fr, avec AFP et Reuters | Dimanche 28 Novembre 2010

LE MONDE: WikiLeaks : portraits acides des leaders mondiaux >>>

Geheimdepeschen enthüllen Weltsicht der USA
Bild: Spiegel Online
Spiegel Video, Im Visier der Supermacht, hier abspielen
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Es ist ein Desaster für die US-Diplomatie. WikiLeaks hat mehr als 250.000 Dokumente aus dem Washingtoner Außenministerium zugespielt bekommen, interne Botschaftsberichte aus aller Welt. Sie enthüllen, wie die Supermacht die Welt wirklich sieht - und ihren globalen Einfluss wahren will.

Hamburg - Wie schätzen die Amerikaner die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel ein? Ist die Politikerin aus der ehemaligen DDR eine verlässliche Verbündete, hat sie sich bemüht, das unter ihrem Vorgänger belastete Verhältnis zu den USA zu reparieren? Allenfalls so la la.

Zwar habe sie den Ton der transatlantischen Beziehungen verbessern wollen, stellt der ehemalige US-Botschafter William Timken in einer Depesche von Ende 2006 an das amerikanische Außenministerium fest. Sie habe aber "keine mutigen Schritte unternommen, um den substantiellen Inhalt dieser Beziehung zu verbessern".

Ein Lob hört sich anders an.

Und das Urteil über den deutschen Außenminister Guido Westerwelle? Seine Gedanken hätten "wenig Substanz", schreibt höchst undiplomatisch der gegenwärtige Chefdiplomat der USA in Berlin, Botschafter Philip Murphy. Das liege vor allem daran, dass offenbar seine "Beherrschung komplexer außen- und sicherheitspolitischer Themen noch Vertiefung erfordert". Das ist schon eine echte Unfreundlichkeit. (mehr zu Deutschland...)

Aber in den Augen des amerikanischen diplomatischen Corps wird jeder Akteur schnell nach Freund oder Gegner eingeteilt: Der König von Saudi-Arabien? Ein Freund: Abdullah könne seinen Nachbarn Iran nicht ausstehen und halte das Mullah-Regime "ohne Zweifel für irgendwie labil". Sein Verbündeter, Scheich Mohammed Bin Sajid Al Nahjan aus Abu Dhabi? Auch ein Freund: Er ist der Meinung, "ein baldiger konventioneller Krieg mit Iran sei eindeutig besser als die langfristigen Konsequenzen eines nuklear bewaffneten Iran". (mehr zu Iran...) >>> | Sonntag, 28. November 2010

Guido Westerwelle: “Inkompetent”, “eitel”, “amerikakritisch”
Bundeskanzlerin Merkel: “Teflon-Merkel”

US Embassy Cables Leak Sparks Global Diplomatic Crisis
THE GUARDIAN: • More than 250,000 dispatches reveal US foreign strategies
• Diplomats ordered to spy on allies as well as enemies
• Saudi king urged Washington to bomb Iran

The release of more than 250,000 US embassy cables reveals previously secret information on American intelligence gathering, and political and military strategy. Photograph: The Guardian
The United States was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to the Guardian and other international media of more than 250,000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year.

At the start of a series of daily extracts from the US embassy cables – many designated "secret" – the Guardian can disclose that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN leadership.

These two revelations alone would be likely to reverberate around the world. But the secret dispatches, which were obtained by WikiLeaks, the whistleblowers' website, also reveal Washington's evaluation of many other highly sensitive international issues.

These include a shift in relations between China and North Korea, high-level concerns over Pakistan's growing instability, and details of clandestine US efforts to combat al-Qaida in Yemen. >>> David Leigh | Sunday, November 28, 2010

Read the full coverage of the US embassy cables >>>

A Superpower's View of the World
Photograph: Spiegel Online International
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: 251,000 State Department documents, many of them secret embassy reports from around the world, show how the US seeks to safeguard its influence around the world. It is nothing short of a political meltdown for US foreign policy.

What does the United States really think of German Chancellor Angela Merkel? Is she a reliable ally? Did she really make an effort to patch up relations with Washington that had been so damaged by her predecessor? At most, it was a half-hearted one.
The tone of trans-Atlantic relations may have improved, former US Ambassador to Germany William Timken wrote in a cable to the State Department at the end of 2006, but the chancellor "has not taken bold steps yet to improve the substantive content of the relationship." That is not exactly high praise.

And the verdict on German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle? His thoughts "were short on substance," wrote the current US ambassador in Berlin, Philip Murphy, in a cable. The reason, Murphy suggested, was that "Westerwelle's command of complex foreign and security policy issues still requires deepening."

Such comments are hardly friendly. But in the eyes of the American diplomatic corps, every actor is quickly categorized as a friend or foe. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia? A friend: Abdullah can't stand his neighbors in Iran and, expressing his disdain for the mullah regime, said, "there is no doubt something unstable about them." And his ally, Sheikh bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi? Also a friend. He believes "a near term conventional war with Iran is clearly preferable to the long term consequences of a nuclear armed Iran."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emissaries also learn of a special "Iran observer" in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku who reports on a dispute that played out during a meeting of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. An enraged Revolutionary Guard Chief of Staff Mohammed Ali Jafari allegedly got into a heated argument with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and slapped him in the face because the generally conservative president had, surprisingly, advocated freedom of the press. A Political Meltdown >>> SPIEGEL Staff | Sunday, November 28, 2010

”Turkey hardly comes away any less scathed in the cables. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the cables allege, governs with the help of a cabal of incompetent advisors. Ankara Embassy officials depict a country on a path to an Islamist future -- a future that likely won't include European Union membership.”

”Often enough, the lesson of the documents that have now been obtained, is that the Arab leaders use their friends in Washington to expand their own positions of power.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Cables Obtained by WikiLeaks Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels: WASHINGTON — A cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables, most of them from the past three years, provides an unprecedented look at back-room bargaining by embassies around the world, brutally candid views of foreign leaders and frank assessments of nuclear and terrorist threats. >>> Scott Shane and Andrew W. Lehren | Sunday, November 28, 2010

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Around the World, Distress Over Iran >>> David E. Sanger, James Glanz and Jo Becker | Sunday, November 28, 2010

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Iran Fortifies Its Arsenal With the Aid of North Korea >>> William J. Broad, James Glanz and David E. Sanger | Sunday, November 28, 2010

THE NEW YORK TIMES: U.S. Expands Role of Diplomats in Spying: WASHINGTON — The United States has expanded the role of American diplomats in collecting intelligence overseas and at the United Nations, ordering State Department personnel to gather the credit card and frequent-flier numbers, work schedules and other personal information of foreign dignitaries. >>> Mark Mazzetti | Sunday, November 28, 2010

WikiLeaks: Arab Leaders Urged US To Attack Iran
SKY NEWS: Arab rulers secretly lobbied the US to launch air strikes to destroy Iran's nuclear programme, leaked US diplomatic messages reveal.


Details from 250,000 leaked documents obtained by whistleblower website WikiLeaks have been published by a number of newspapers given advance sight of the material.

The Guardian says it will publish details later in the week of cables relating to the UK - including allegations of "inappropriate behaviour" by a member of the Royal Family which was said to have "startled" US diplomats.

The documents are also said to include "serious political criticism" of David Cameron and "devastating criticism" of British military operations in Afghanistan.

Potentially most seriously of all for the UK, the newspaper said that the cables included requests for "specific intelligence" about British MPs. (+ video) >>> Andy Jack and Richard Williams, Sky News Online | Monday, November 29, 2010

Key Points Of Leaked Confidential Documents >>>

THE TIMES: Arabs urged US to bomb Iran >>> Tom Coghlan, Defence Correspondent | Monday, November 29, 2010 (Paywall: £)

WikiLeaks Release Dangerous?


THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Embarrassment for Coalition as Wikileaks prepares to release secret US papers: Potentially "embarrassing" comments on the formation of Britain's coalition government are to be revealed this week as millions of leaked US diplomatic documents are made public. >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political editor | Saturday, November 27, 2010

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Britain fears Islamic fury over leaked sensitive documents >>> David Leppard | Sunday, November 28, 2010 (Paywall: £)

Related >>>

What the Swiss Think of Moves to Expel Foreign Criminals

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: L'acceptation de l'initiative UDC se confirme : Selon les dernières projections, la Suisse accepterait à 53 % l'initiative sur le renvoi des criminels étrangers. >>> ATS | Dimanche 28 Novembre 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Ausschaffungsinitiative dürfte angenommen werden: Vorlage der SVP wird wohl auch Ständemehr schaffen >>> ubl. | Sonntag, 28. November 2010

THE TIMES: Swiss vote to deport all foreigners who commit serious crimes >>> Charles Bremner | Sunday, November 28, 2010 (Paywall: £)

Why Don't We Love David Cameron?
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Prime Minister is doing most things right, but he just can't capture the public's imagination, says Janet Daley.

David Cameron has succeeded in what has always seemed to be his chief political objective: he is not actively disliked by the majority of the population. In spite of being a Tory – and an Old Etonian – relatively few people hate him. Maybe this is as good as it gets.

But the great campaign to make Mr Cameron (and, by inference, his party) likeable – unthreatening, inoffensive, un-nasty – has an obverse side, which is now becoming clear. While almost none of the electorate violently detests him, nobody much loves him either. He is not repugnant – but neither is he inspirational. He is not malignant – but neither is he magnetic.

All of which may go some way to explain why, although many of his policies are getting a good press and some of them, such as welfare reform, are extremely popular, his party is still just level-pegging in the polls with Labour, whose state of disarray has reached embarrassing proportions. Even when the Cameron leadership is perceived to be going largely in the right direction, and doing quite brave things, it does not – as the saying goes – capture the public imagination. Listening to the Prime Minister speak arouses no passion in the collective breast of the nation. Why not? Read on and comment >>> Janet Daley | Saturday, November 27, 2010

Why don’t we love Cameron? That’s simple. He comes over as vain and conceited. He also comes over as weak and fawning. I detect no courage in this man. The country is in dire need of a real leader, one who is courageous and committed to maintaining freedom and true democracy. In Cameron, I fear we have someone who doesn’t seem to understand what is at stake; and someone who, even if he does, has no courage to stand up against that which is threatening our very survival. Cameron prefers to fiddle while Rome burns. The happiness index is more important to him. How banal! Further, he and Cleggover are turning their backs on Israel and sucking up to the Gulf Arabs. They have no principles. Mammon is their god. – © Mark

This comment also appears here.

Expats Recalled as North Korea Prepares for War
THE INDEPENDENT: A mass exodus of North Korean workers from the Far East of Russia is under way, according to reports coming out of the region. As the two Koreas edged towards the brink of war this week, it appears that the workers in Russia have been called back to aid potential military operations.

Vladnews agency, based in Vladivostok, reported that North Korean workers had left the town of Nakhodka en masse shortly after the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula earlier this week. "Traders have left the kiosks and markets, workers have abandoned building sites, and North Korean secret service employees working in the region have joined them and left," the agency reported. Read on and comment >>> Shaun Walker in Moscow | Saturday, November 27, 2010

Pakistan: The Christian Woman Facing Death Over A Work Squabble
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The death sentence on Asia Bibi, a Christian woman in Pakistan, for blasphemy has set off a storm of debate about her fate.

Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamat-i-Islami rally demanding execution of the Christian woman Asia Bibi in Karachi. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
It started as nothing more than a petty squabble: a group of Muslim women refused to sup from a bucket of water fetched by a Christian co-worker as they picked berries on a farm.

But within days the spat had escalated into a deadly storm, as imams whipped up an angry crowd accusing Aasia Bibi of badmouthing the Prophet Muhammad.

Today the mother-of-five is on death row, the first woman in Pakistan to be sentenced to hang for blasphemy.

Her tiny, stinking cell is now the centre of a political storm as liberals face off with conservative clerics over the country's barbaric blasphemy laws, which cuts to the heart of Pakistan's uneasy relationship between religion and democracy.

Hard-line Muslims have taken to the streets, warning the government not to cave in to foreign pressure to pardon her, and issuing death threats to her supporters, alarming the country's embattled Christian minority.

Meanwhile, from the prison where she is being held, Mrs Bibi, 45, has made one brief statement to proclaim her innocence. "The allegation against me is baseless," she insisted, speaking from behind a veil worn not as a concession to Islamic sensibilities, but simply to hide her identity. "We had some differences and this was their way of taking revenge." >>> Rob Crilly in Lahore | Saturday, November 27, 2010

This ideology is a curse on the civilised world, and nobody is prepared to do anything about it. It will lead us into a New Dark Age. – Mark

EDL and UAF Protest
LANCASHIRE TELEGRAPH: THE English Defence League is holding a demonstration in Preston today against a planned new mosque.

A counter-demonstration against the EDL, organised by Preston Trades Council and Unite Against Fascism, will take place at the same time.

Police say they will have a 'highly-visible police presence throughout the day' to try to avoid the flashpoints of trouble that have occurred at similar events elsewhere, including Bolton. >>> Paul Cockerton, Web editor | Saturday, November 27, 2010

14 Arrests at Preston EDL Demo >>>

Finanzexperten fürchten den D-Mark-Alptraum
D-Mark-Münze: Rückkehr zu den alten Zeiten? Foto: Spiele Online
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In Europa macht ein Schreckensszenario die Runde: Bricht die Euro-Union auseinander? Kehren die Länder bald zu D-Mark, Franc und Lira zurück? Die Wahrscheinlichkeit dafür ist gering, trotzdem sind Experten alarmiert. Ein Comeback der nationalen Währungen wäre fatal - vor allem für Deutschland.

Hamburg - Eigentlich gibt es sie ja noch. Die D-Mark. Sogar in Massen. Auch fast neun Jahre nach der Einführung des Euro existieren 13 Milliarden Mark - in Verstecken, Sammlungen oder Omas Sparstrumpf. Und schenkt man Umfragen Glauben, dann wünscht sich fast die Hälfte der Bundesbürger die Mark als offizielles Zahlungsmittel zurück. So haben zum Beispiel die Meinungsforscher der EU-Behörde Eurobarometer festgestellt: "Die D-Mark war für viele Deutsche das Symbol für wirtschaftliche Sicherheit, Solidität und Prosperität."

Merkmale, die Euro-Skeptiker wohl nie mit der Gemeinschaftswährung verbinden werden.

Und ist es nicht wirklich so? Hat sich Europas Finanzkrise in den vergangenen Wochen nicht dramatisch verschärft? Nach Griechenland mussten auch die Iren unter den 750 Milliarden Euro schweren Rettungsschirm schlüpfen, der ein Auseinanderbrechen der Währungsunion verhindern soll. Und schon könnten weitere Pleitekandidaten folgen. Portugal zum Beispiel, zumindest spekulieren die Finanzmärkte darauf. Im schlimmsten Fall trifft es sogar Spanien - mit dem Euro in seiner bisherigen Form wäre es dann wohl vorbei.

Doch was würde bei einem Euro-Crash eigentlich passieren? Würden in Deutschland tatsächlich die guten, alten D-Mark-Zeiten zurückkehren? Oder drohen Chaos und wirtschaftliche Depression? >>> Von Jens Witte | Samstag, 27. November 2010

Architects Take On Museums in Doha and Abu Dhabi
Blueprints for the Mideast
Watch NYT video here

Roller Rink Accused of Discrimination
Muslim woman's head scarf causes controversy

HT: Always On Watch >>>

Related >>>

King James Bible Celebrates 400 Years

Kriminelle Ausländer: Volksentscheid spaltet Schweiz
FRANKFURTER ALGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Die Schweiz entscheidet am Sonntag per Volksabstimmung über die automatische Abschiebung krimineller Ausländer. Ein Jahr nach dem Minarett-Verbot könnte das Land erneut weiter nach rechts rücken – Umfragen sagen jedenfalls einen Sieg der Abschiebungs-Befürworter voraus. Doch die Meinungen sind durchaus geteilt.

Das Video hier abspielen
FAZ: Nach Minarett-Referendum: „Muslime sollen Geld aus der Schweiz abziehen“ – Aus Protest gegen den Schweizer Volksentscheid für ein Bauverbot für Minarette, hat der türkische Europaminister Bagis wohlhabende Muslime in aller Welt aufgerufen, ihr Vermögen von dort abzuziehen und ihr Geld in der Türkei anzulegen. Auch Syrien ruft zu einer Kampagne gegen die Alpenrepublik auf. >>> Mittwoch, 02. Dezember 2009

LE POINT: La Suisse va-t-elle bientôt expulser les étrangers criminels ? : Dimanche, les Helvètes se prononcent sur deux textes qui réclament le renvoi des étrangers ayant commis des délits graves. >>> Le Point.fr | Samedi 27 Novembre 2010

THE TIMES: Swiss anti-immigrant party pushes plan to expel foreign criminals >>> Charles Bremner | Saturday, November 27, 2010 (Paywall: £)

THE TIMES: Financial crisis has created fertile ground for the far Right in Europe >>> Roger Boyes, Vienna | Saturday, April 24, 2010 (Paywall: £)

THE TIMES: Hungarian far-right party Jobbik sets up London branch >>> Fiona Hamilton, London Correspondent | Saturday, December 05, 2009 (Paywall: £)

Verbunden >>>

Christopher Hitchens - The Best of the Hitchslap

Hitchens Schools a Muslim on Free Speech