No substitute for written documents
Photo: AP
Apocalypse now
Op-ed: WikiLeaks reports a tsunami of historical scope, world will not be the same
An atomic bomb exploded in the United States Sunday and split into three million fragments. In respect to managing the world, nothing will be the same as it was as of Sunday. From now on, the WikiLeaks reports will become an inseparable part of history, and certainly of manuals in the areas of diplomacy, governance, and defense establishment management.
It’s inaccurate to say that government and military leaders are careful when they speak to each other, and certainly when it has to do with letters and other written documents. When a document is adorned with the caption “top secret,” “for your eyes only” and even “destroy after reading,” one almost always feels protected from being exposed.
Sensitive Data
Attila Somfalvi
WikiLeaks documents reveal that Israel's attempt to convey sense of urgency, its contradicting assessments on when Iran would achieve nuclear ability made US officials take its warnings 'with a grain of salt'. One US diplomat noted it was not clear whether Israelis themselves believed their own assessments
Ladies and gentleman, the management of the world sustained a tsunami of historical scope Sunday. Apocalypse now. What will the leaders, heads of state and military commanders do from now on? They won’t talk? They won’t write classified telegrams? They won’t share information? They will no longer discuss life and death matters? The world shall turn into the Monastery of Silence?
Old habits die hard?
There is no substitute for talks and written documents. The assumption is that later on, after the dust settles and the great crises end – if they end – people will go back to writing and talking “top secret.” How could they do otherwise?
Some say that old habits shall prevail and people will go back to how they used to be. Maybe that’s the case. But what about the trust? What will the leaders who on Sunday discovered that they were fooled, deceived and fed fairytales do? Will things ever be the same?
Another issue has to do with the great America. The US is currently the world’s only empire, which dominates the way the world turns. What will the world say about the America today? Some junior official exposed it all and may now affect history more than 1,000 leaders and 2,000 conferences. This is America?
Once upon a time, Ehud Barak spoke about “the dawn of a new day,” in a wholly different context. Officials in America apparently want this new day to never arrive.
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