

Julian Assange: Wikileaks to release 'million more files in 2013' - TomAnthony
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20806355

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maebert
While I'm generally supporting Assange in his mission, I do wonder what good
has come out of the released cables and other documents so far. Have there
been any policy changes anywhere as a direct result of the leaks? Until now it
seems like wasting taxpayer's money on making dubious sexual assault charges
an international diplomatic issue and possibly unconstitutional torture of a
whistleblower are the only effects that ripple through the media. Am I missing
something?

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Fixnum
A number of relevant disclosures are listed at
<http://www.salon.com/2010/12/24/wikileaks_23/> .

I don't know how one could argue that, e.g., releasing cables showing the
Afghanistan war is "unwinnable" (a la Daniel Ellsberg), showing the deep
hypocrisy and corruption of many governments (e.g., the Saudi rulership), and
the bullying of all sorts of governments into falling in line with American
military and economic interests isn't a "good".

If there haven't been any visible policy changes by the US government, then
perhaps it's because such a change is not easily to connect directly to
Wikileaks. Of course, it could be that Robert Gates is correct in saying
claiming that consequences for US foreign policy (from the leaked diplomatic
cables) have been "modest". If true, that is unfortunate, but surely not the
fault of Wikileaks?

