The theatrics on communications between American Embassy Officials and Washington DC on Wiki leak cable releases are painfully tragic for many veteran foreign policy officials. Many of them, who are familiar with the risks of working in a foreign land where the environment is often unfamiliar and the language different from English, makes the wiki leaks experience, even the more tragic. Many of them contemplate the risks they take in some of those lands across the world, where the basic necessities of life are sometimes unavailable and yet, they work harder to collect useful information that are being paraded on the WEB, as if they are fashion apparels at a Paris runway dig. We may want to remind those working along with Julian Assange, that many of them have never experienced embassy bombings, first hand; and probably have not shared in the experience of losing a colleague on the job. The careless sharing of information moving from those faraway lands to Washington DC on Wiki leaks and other accompanying organizations can lead to deaths of American Embassy officials. No one working for American Embassy is immune from the risk of losing their lives, just by being traced to be working in the interest of this nation. The blog today is looking at embassy officials safety and exchanges with Washington DC, in light of the current Wiki Leaks cables on the WEB.
For those who have forgotten the Embassy bombing experience in Nairobi, Kenya, it is important to remind them that not only were Americans injured, indigenes and locals in that country lost their lives. Nearly everyone in Nairobi on the night of the embassy bombing understood the difficulties of people working for American Embassy or the difficult conditions under which foreign officials work, including the risk of losing their lives while serving the interest of America. Still men and women continue to work for Uncle Sam. We saw the unstable political arrangements in Yemen and the anger and alienation that seem to consume those people in that country over America’s influence. The potential of shattering the peace in many areas of the world is now very obvious with the releases of Wiki Leaks cables.
Today, men and women working in the interest of American Embassies all over the world are wondering if any of their information exchanges with Washington DC are going to be released by Wiki Leaks, or whether they have already been released and would cause harm to them and their families. I once tried to get into Foreign Service employment in 1998 and at the interview debriefing of what foreign embassy staff are expected to do while away from the shores of America, made me think twice, if the job is worth the pay. I am raising this point here, because of many in the press who consider that the releases of the Wiki Leak cables are issue of the freedom of the press. It is more than that. It is all bloods and sweat by dedicated Americans, who see the diplomacy of America around the globe as essential to the stability of this nation and its partners. Has anyone imagined the role of U.S. alliances to the stability of NATO members? The strategy from the White House on Foreign policy is developed from information shared from American Embassies as to the status of current events and dismissive in those NATO member countries. Imagine having such information in the open on the WEB. Is that really what this is all about?
When our Presidents stand up on the podium and say, we are going to work together with our European partners, much inputs has gone into that statement from contribution of American Embassy staff. To discountenance the implication of the Wiki Leaks on the pretext of freedom of the Press or the right of the people to know, these people are being disingenuous to the essence of America’s freedom. People should not confuse the right to know to the high stake of sharing nation’s secrets on the WEB. Imagine what flames the release of the embassy communiqué on the WEB to the delivery of food and shelter to displaced peoples in Kosovo during Clinton's era. If embassy staff in countries in Europe were not up to their snuff, would America and NATO be able to help millions of people who were wallowing in genocide or a fear of it, in that conflict region? Is the freedom of information sharing of intricate efforts made by American Embassy staff to ensure that Washington DC has the appropriate status information to be able to help in that situation; or, to be able to make pronouncements based on the issues on the ground, an inalienable right of everyone in the world? America has done so many things around the world, peacefully, based on the information that Wiki leaks is sharing today on the WEB. Does Wiki Leaks expect us to fold our hands when nations call for our help in desperate times? What then is the purpose of these senseless releases?
When our nation reaffirm strong support for democratically elected governments, the issue of security and confidence in American military and the military of some of other nations around the world, are called to bear; this is the type of information that is being shared on the WEB like college classroom homeworks and assignments. Many who doubt that Wiki Leaks cable releases undermine the essence of our government efforts to ensure the safety of America and its allies must rethink again. Were these people asleep when Milosevic refused international military presence in Kosovo at the height of his atrocities? Who provided the credible assurance to the Serbians that the world was not at war with them but with the policies of the regime in Belgrade. Some of the back room discussions and strategy of handling this very delicate circumstance drew from America’s embassies communication with Washington DC. This same information about difficult circumstances around the globe is now being made available on the WEB, thanks to Wiki Leaks. These are treacherous decisions and someone has to be held accountable, pronto!
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