Welcome to WikiLeaked!

Posted By Blake Hounshell Thursday, December 2, 2010 - 1:38 AM Share

View a slide show on what the WikiLeaks cables say about world leaders

Welcome to WikiLeaked, FP's brand-new blog dedicated to the thousands of State Department cables that are suddenly being thrust into the public domain, to the great chagrin of the U.S. governments and its friends and allies around the world. Over the next few weeks (and perhaps months) -- as WikiLeaks dribbles out secret and sensitive documents on everything from the dating habits of world leaders to the prospects of political reform in Zimbabwe -- we'll be mining the site for nuggets of gold, providing context and making connections between people, places, and events.

We'll also be cross-posting relevant blog items and articles from elsewhere on ForeignPolicy.com, so consider wikileaks.foreignpolicy.com your one-stop shop for scoops and insights on the State Department cables. And we'll keep on it as long as there are still interesting and important documents to discover.

FP comes to this story without an agenda: We have no axe to grind with the United States, or with any country for that matter. We are simply interested in reporting the facts to our readers all over the world, left and right, American and not. We know that these cables alone don't tell the whole story: U.S. policy usually gets hashed out via an elaborate process in Washington, not through one person's report from the field. And we know that just because a secret cable says something doesn't make it true.

We also know that we'll need your help. So please, send us tips or point us to new documents and reporting elsewhere. Tell us when we get something wrong. Give us your thoughts in the comments section. And keep reading.

EXPLORE:STATE DEPARTMENT, WIKILEAKS

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XMASTER4000

3:44 AM ET

December 2, 2010

Of course

Well, have fun digging through thousands of meaningless diplomatic cables to get to the good stuff.

EBOY

9:04 PM ET

December 2, 2010

YES!

Finally finally finally a media source that has the spine NOT to distance itself from wikileaks.

Thanks you guys.

LLOYD CATA

2:21 PM ET

December 6, 2010

Just The Beginning....

So far, we have only seen a fraction of the cables. After all, we are hostage to WikiLeaks agenda, timetable, and redactions. In the spirit of cooperation with the US government, there are cables that even WikiLeaks will not publish. Of course, having and not publishing is something the US media, such as the NYTimes, have a lot of experience.

The great stories of these leaks will be in what is NOT in the published cables. Embarrassments will prevail, because that keeps prurient interest high, and it is WikiLeaks objective to 'prove' nothing harmful has occurred because of its 'responsible' publication. However, since it is Washington's option and desire to persecute WikiLeaks, there is no telling what where the 'unpublished' cables will appear.

Beyond the 'official' statements from Foggy Bottom, and Assange's call for Hillary Clinton's resignation, it is unfathomable that there have been no 'discussions' between WikiLeaks and the State Dept. Those discussions may not be characterized as 'negotiations', since the US cannot be seen to negotiate with terrorists, but can there be any doubt that the high hand belongs to WikiLeaks and the 'discussions' revolve around how much information is acceptable to Washington? The threat of un-redacted release is too hazardous for serious contemplation.

So Mrs. Clinton smiles and jokes about what has, so far, been released, but behind the curtain 'everything' that can be done will be done to protect the national security of the United States. It could not be otherwise. In fact, it may be in the US interests to 'protect WikiLeaks, since any action by a third party may prompt the release of the key which opens Pandora's box of secrets.