Wikileaks: Much Ado About Nothing

The current controversy over Wikileaks is getting out of control.  Some people are comparing the leaks to the Pentagon Papers and news shows like Countdown on MSNBC have had Daniel Ellsberg on to further this connection.  It is doubtful that Wikileaks rises to the historic significance of the Pentagon Papers.  Exposing the lies and misinformation surrounding the Vietnam War is much more important to the nation than finding out what some third world dictator said about another third world dictator. 

Wikileaks is an embarrassment to the US government.  Fareed Zakaria of CNN and Time magazine wrote a good article about this topic. In the article, he makes a strong case that the real problem of Wikileaks is the inability of our government to secure these documents and it may reduce the willingness of our diplomatic corps to commit anything to paper going forward.  But rising to the level of treason or espionage is quite a stretch of the imagination.  In fact, much of the Wikileaks information that has been released confirms public statements that our government has been making all along.

For instance, US diplomats have been saying that leaders in the Middle East have been warning them that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon and needs to be stopped.  The Wikileaks cables on this subject prove such claims.  So, in that regard, there isn’t much breaking news. 

When all is said and done, Wikileaks will be much ado about nothing.  Freedom of information will still be alive and well.  There will be no espionage case against Julian Assange but he will feel the full weight of the US influence around the world.  Was he so naïve as to believe that nothing would happen if he embarrassed the United States?  Perhaps he should have considered his legal troubles in Sweden before embarking on this mission.  And another crisis of the month will replace Wikileaks in the news cycle.