Schadenfreude on a Sunday
November 27, 2010 1:35 PM Subscribe
Wikileaks Filter. In the last 24 hours US officials have been frantically briefing the Governements of Britain, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Israel in advance of tomorrows expected release of 3 million documents of diplomatic cables from US embassys around the world. As with previous releases it is tipped that newspapers in Britain, Germany and America will run with analysis after getting a head start. On previous form most likely The Guardian, Der Spiegel and The New York Times. Wikileaks Twitter feed advises the UK government has already responded with the rather quaint quiet word in the ear also knows as the D-Notice.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Maybe wait until the release has actually happened and you can link to actual coverage by the newspapers instead of to their home pages? -- cortex
Agreed. Meanwhile, there's still an open Wikileaks thread from last week.
posted by Gator at 1:42 PM on November 27, 2010
posted by Gator at 1:42 PM on November 27, 2010
So... does wikileaks actually review everything they release? All told we've had X millions of documents released, at what point does quantity overwhelm quality?
and "frantically" briefing? Where does it say that, or is it just inferred/implied?
posted by edgeways at 1:42 PM on November 27, 2010
and "frantically" briefing? Where does it say that, or is it just inferred/implied?
posted by edgeways at 1:42 PM on November 27, 2010
I'm not sure why this post can't wait until something has actually been leaked?
Because it's a race! (And apparently the race is to be the next to use the ever-helpful "of" tag).
posted by dersins at 1:44 PM on November 27, 2010
Because it's a race! (And apparently the race is to be the next to use the ever-helpful "of" tag).
posted by dersins at 1:44 PM on November 27, 2010
Included are 251,287 cables and 8,000 diplomatic directives
One cable dates back to 1966, but most are newer than 2004
9,005 documents date from the first two months of 2010
Der Spiegel, The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde and El País have had access to the files and reviewed them.
Each telegram consists of date, author, recipient, classification and the actual message text. Often it includes names of informants or names are mentioned. The SPIEGEL and SPIEGEL ONLINE have therefore decided not to make the mass of documents accessible, but to quote only from individual dispatches or document a single cable, in which the names of informants have been deleted - unless the name of the informer has political relevance.
[Of the Secret Cables] 4330 of them are so explosive that they have been designated as "Noforn", that should not be made available to foreigners.
Unlike the U.S. military reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, the diplomatic telegrams are easier to read. They lack abbreviations in the text and are usually created in an office under no time pressure.
Much is written in the faith and sent that the logs do not get exposed to the public during the next 25 years. This probably explains why the ambassadors and envoys of the United States also engage in much gossip and report much hearsay to the headquarters.
Diplomacy is only calculative to the outside. Internally diplomats use a straightforward language.
The cables mostly contain assessments of the political situation in the country, meeting protocols, background information about personnel decisions and events - or personality profiles of individual politicians.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 1:45 PM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
One cable dates back to 1966, but most are newer than 2004
9,005 documents date from the first two months of 2010
Der Spiegel, The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde and El País have had access to the files and reviewed them.
Each telegram consists of date, author, recipient, classification and the actual message text. Often it includes names of informants or names are mentioned. The SPIEGEL and SPIEGEL ONLINE have therefore decided not to make the mass of documents accessible, but to quote only from individual dispatches or document a single cable, in which the names of informants have been deleted - unless the name of the informer has political relevance.
[Of the Secret Cables] 4330 of them are so explosive that they have been designated as "Noforn", that should not be made available to foreigners.
Unlike the U.S. military reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, the diplomatic telegrams are easier to read. They lack abbreviations in the text and are usually created in an office under no time pressure.
Much is written in the faith and sent that the logs do not get exposed to the public during the next 25 years. This probably explains why the ambassadors and envoys of the United States also engage in much gossip and report much hearsay to the headquarters.
Diplomacy is only calculative to the outside. Internally diplomats use a straightforward language.
The cables mostly contain assessments of the political situation in the country, meeting protocols, background information about personnel decisions and events - or personality profiles of individual politicians.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 1:45 PM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by Dumsnill at 1:40 PM on November 27, 2010