I dunno, there's something fishy about all of this. This Assange guy seems to be too easily getting the info and too easily getting away with releasing it.

For those that are interested, here is a good site with live updates as to the released info.
http://newsnow.co.uk/h/Hot+Topics/WikiLeaks

This in my opinion is not good for us plebs, it's being done with government blessing I reckon.

It is a fascinating story.
I imagine that Mr Assange would
find it difficult to take out a
life insurance policy at the moment.

I can't wait for the movie.

That is quite likely Rawmustard- that governments have since learned that they can take advantage of Wikileaks to publish what they would WANT the world to know their stance is outside the PC 'official' declarations (like insulting heads of state who would potentially be in opposition to the government in question- like criticizing the Italian PM's relationship with Putin, and calling their enemy, the Iranian President, as someone comparable to Hitler.

Of course, I don't really believe all the contents of this leak are things that the governments would want leaked (but I could imagine plenty working for the government and not liking it for either their own political (or moral) purposes leaking those instead (Hilaries UN Spies, Guantanamo repatriation bribes, and Saudi Arabia pushing for an Iran invasion are very much scandalous to the core- though they're all 'known'- they're hardly mainstream knowledge and little more than well-founded assumptions).

I just hope people pay attention to this.

Pericles, King Hazza
Agree completely with your comments so far. It is interesting to watch each release with relevant news unfolding. The Saudi Arabian content is unsurprising but as said, scapegoating and mealy mouthedness about participation in certain world events is easily discerned in some of the material.

mikk
I suspect it is a ploy of governments to focus the issue around Assange rather than the reports themselves - the more they make him out to be a criminal the more credibility he gains.

Lexi
Agree, China is known for its quite blatant attempts at espionage - they don't even hide it. Ask any senior public servant who is a visitor to their shores. Why bother hiding something of which we are all aware - at least they don't wrap it up in pretty pink ribbon they just get on with their business. :)

Raw Mustard
I would imagine most of the stuff is information the government would not want leaked but Wikileaks would be an ideal resource as KH wrote to reveal information without actually having to reveal oneself - especially if diplomacy was at stake.

talisman
A movie would be great. Who would play Assange? My pick would be Paul Bettany - he is a good actor and looks a bit like Assange even with the white hair.

It is laughable that the US Government in particular is creating such a ruckus when they had no such hesitation in revealing one of their own CIA agents for political purposes.

Long live Wikileaks.

here's a good one a found out when it came out. real interesting to read all this stuff. wonder what the future holds.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1333934/WikiLeaks-The-revelations-glance.html

The more I see of the leak list, the more like a gossip column it becomes.

So far, this is my favourite piece of "secret information":

"Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is labelled 'feckless, vain and ineffective as a modern European leader'."

An opinion that you can read practically every week in that top-secret file, the Economist.

It really is banal. Here's The Register's take:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/29/wikileaks_diplomatic_yawn/

Their summary:

"Get a grip, people. We were never going to learn very much of substance from diplomatic cables, as diplomats are merely ornaments, the eunuchs in the room. If you want secrets that show something about power, you want to hear from the people who arrange the hit squads - not the people who arrange the cocktail parties."

I'm beginning to firm up on the "let's pretend to be outraged" theory.

And thanks for link to the Daily Mail article, jinny. When I took their informal poll a few minutes ago...

"Is Wikileaks right to publish documents that could threaten national security?"

Exactly 50% each, for "yes" and "no".

Nothing to see here, people, except to enjoy and analyze the "reactions" of the various parties named/involved.