Wikileaks Diplomatic Cable Dump - News and Discussion

arun · Post by **arun** » 12 Dec 2010 14:53

Singapore diplomat calls India 'stupid': Leaked papers:

PTI via Hindustan Times

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 12 Dec 2010 17:25

Has this been brought up before?
http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=09STATE63860
Titled: Diplomatic Security Daily
Dated: 2009-06-19

Contains briefs from around the world.

¶17. (S//NF) SCA - India - LT member Shafiq Khafa possibly preparing for operations: Tearline reports, &Hussein, an India-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) member, continued operational planning on three tasks in early June. The tasks were associated with a possible operation against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendar Modi, the establishment of a training camp, and unspecified work involving a car. Hussein would coordinate his activities with an India-based colleague identified as Sameer.8

¶18. (S//REL TO USA, FVEY) Separate tearline indicates, &Pakistan-based Shafiq Khafa prepared in mid-June with India-based associate S J for possible operations in India. Khafa was looking for information on possible training sites in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala.8

¶19. (S//NF) DS/TIA/ITA notes earlier credible tearline suggests Khafa,s network is striving to stand up two teams in southern India that rely on the support of LT members based in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal. Although specific details of planned LT attacks remain unknown, late-May intelligence indicates Khafa,s cells were engaged in surveillance activities of potential targets, likely in southern India. Early-May reporting further suggests Kerala or Tamil Nadu may be used as a base of operations following the establishment of a facilitation team in Sri Lanka, with the estimated time of completion for setting up the facilitation route and camps to be two to three months. (Appendix sources 8-18)

and

31. XXXXXXXXXXXX SECRET//FGI//NOFORN
Full Appendix with sourcing available upon request. CLINTON

ShivaS · Post by **ShivaS** » 12 Dec 2010 18:55

these leaks certainly prove the fact that US does not practice of freedom of speech, free press, and state not interefering in its citizen rights etc norms that it preaches to other countries.
The jokers at SD listing of Human Rights has long been proved empty vessel...

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 12 Dec 2010 21:09

Edited: wrong thread!

Amitava · Post by **Amitava** » 12 Dec 2010 21:57

ShivaS wrote:these leaks certainly prove the fact that US does not practice of freedom of speech, free press, and state not interefering in its citizen rights etc norms that it preaches to other countries.

Vladimir Putin wrote:If there is democracy, it must be a full one. Why did they jail Mr. Assange? Is that democracy?
...
You know what our villagers say: while someone's cow is mooing, yours better be silent.

Great Minds Think Alike

From: http://abcnews.go.com/International/put ... &tqshow=WN

Assange's arrest in London earlier this week indicated that the West isn't as democratic as it thinks it is, Putin suggested.

"If there is democracy, it must be a full one. Why did they jail Mr. Assange? Is that democracy?" Putin said at a news conference Thursday. "You know what our villagers say: while someone's cow is mooing, yours better be silent." The Russian expression is loosely equivalent to the pot calling the kettle black.

"So I would like to shoot the puck back at our American colleagues," said Putin.

The prime minister also took a shot at the accuracy of the diplomatic observations in the classified cables.

"Do you yourself think that the U.S. diplomatic service is a crystal clear source of information?" Putin asked.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Dec 2010 22:26

WikiWrecks: 26/11 and US Intent by M Shamsur Rabb Khan

Sat Dec 11, 2010 2:57 pm (PST)

WikiWrecks: 26/11 and US Intent
M Shamsur Rabb Khan

Freelancer

email: samsur.khan@ gmail.com

http://www.ipcs. org/article/ india/wikiwrecks -2611-and- us-intent- 3291.html

The David Headley saga put a big question mark over the US policy for
tackling terror due to the inability of the FBI to inform their Indian
counterparts about 26/11. New Delhi learn't the big lesson that it had to
deal with Pakistan-sponsored terrorists on its own, while the rhetoric
from Washington was only a diplomatic red herring. Now the Wikileaks
disclosure is another setback for Indo-US relations. According to a
leaked cable, the US suppressed information related to the involvement
of the ISI in the Mumbai attacks, but also defended it. They vindicate
India's firm stand that the ISI was behind the Mumbai terror attack, but
paint the US government in very poor light, especially its intention to
proceed seriously in the war on terror.

The relevant cable from the US embassy in Pakistan to the Secretary of
State, Hillary Clinton, in January 2009 says, "We are concerned that
India's premature public dissemination of this information will
undermine essential law enforcement efforts and forestall further
Indo-Pakistan cooperation. Our goal is not only to bring the
perpetrators of this attack to justice, but also to begin a dialogue
that will reduce tensions between India and Pakistan." The use of
phrases like "premature public dissemination" and 'forestall further
Indo-Pakistan cooperation" are objectionable since New Delhi has every
right to pursue and bring to justice those who are behind these ghastly
attacks. In view of the dubious role played by David Headley, it is
undeniable that the US was also a major player in 26/11.

This is not all. On the issue of investigations into the Mumbai attacks,
the US Embassy described the "Million Dollar Question" as the role
played by the ISI. The US also tried to protect ISI chief Ahmed Shuja
Pasha from the investigations into 26/11 by India even though the
findings clearly indicated the ISI's involvement as led by him. In its
further double-standard policy to save Pasha, the cable from the US
embassy in Islamabad revealed that the US was keen on urging India to
delay the release of their findings since they could undermine Pasha.
Washington thus showed little concern for the victims of 26/11 and their
families.

In this confidential exchange of diplomatic messages, the US is clearly
seen to be supporting the Pakistan Army and not the democratically
elected President, Asif Ali Zardari, who was ready to send the ISI chief
to New Delhi after theÂ attacks. However, the Pakistani army led by
General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, the cable said, overruled Zardari. And it
seems the US, in turn, played a major role in influencing the decision
of the Pakistan Army. It is high time the Government of India readjusts
its policies in view of the differentiated American perceptions of the
war on terror: the US considers 9/11 to be its watershed, but has shown
indifference to India's 26/11. For New Delhi, the US is a party to the
delay that Pakistan maintains in prosecuting the perpetrators of
26/11.

Another WikiLeaks cable which will act as an impediment to close ties
with the US reveals American perceptions about the Indian Army and its
war preparedness. In a cable dated 16 February 2010, the US Ambassador
to India, Tim Roemer, described the "Cold Start Doctrine" as a mixture
of myth and reality. Roemer says, "It's never been and may never be put
to use on a battlefield because of substantial and serious resource
constraints." For Roemer, the Indian Army is "slow and lumbering, and
unable to attack with an element of surprise."

New Delhi has placed too much reliance on support from the US regarding
its crucial security concerns, including fighting the terror
infrastructure across the border. Washington's apprehension about
escalating tensions between India and Pakistan has not yielded any
worthwhile results either in restraining Pakistan from exporting terror
or appreciating India's forbearance in not snapping diplomatic ties.
Given the US interest in tackling the Mumbai terror attacks, it is
imperative for New Delhi to reveal its seriousness in single-handedly
pursuing the perpetrators of 26/11 without much consideration for US
concerns. Only then would India, as a sovereign state, restore the faith
of its people in its strength and ability to take decisive action.

I wish Shamsur Rehman was atleast nominated to Rajya Sabha as an eminent thinker.

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 13 Dec 2010 00:42

Prem wrote:Perfideous Albinos
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... m-off.html

Russia Not Involved in Litvinenko Murder
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162- ... 03543.html

I wouldn't read too much into it. It's merely a claim made by the Russian representative, Safanov.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 13 Dec 2010 01:08

ShivaS wrote:these leaks certainly prove the fact that US does not practice of freedom of speech, free press, and state not interefering in its citizen rights etc norms that it preaches to other countries.
The jokers at SD listing of Human Rights has long been proved empty vessel...

Well I would not say so categorically. If you look closely at US media as I have, you'll find that 99.9% of the crap doled out is useless entyertainment, sports, gossip, pompous celebrity trash talk etc, that doesn't require the upholding of any grandioise journalistic ethic or principled notion of "freedom of speech". Its more a measure of USA's economic prowess that such indulgence actually generates wealth. On this count, one must must marvel at the economic enterprise that US media is, the nuts & bolts, the rules & regulations etc, all designed to play out this inconsquential theater and generate wealth.

On the more serious side, like I mentioned earlier, as with other moralistic BS that US trots our round the clock especially to us SDRE types, "freedom of speech" is a malleable concept. To the extent that "freedom of speech" is just that, hot air, or letting out steam in some leftist rag or doesn't have any real consequence, no problem, it will be allowed. But where it has an impact on US interests, even a remote one at that, as the WikiLeaks case showed, the hammer will come down. Or recall, US taking out the Chinese broadcast tower as part of the carpet bombing of Belgrade during the Balkan war. Those broadcasts were creating an impact on the Serbs.

I was laughing my ass off when I heard on NPR the NYT reporter Steven Erlanger I believe was mentioning that the reason why NYT chose to publicsh those leaks is to actually show how US actions around the world and the moral principles it espouses are in synch, otherwiese just readng the cables in their raw form without context would lead to misunderstanding about US

. So in one shot, NYT covered its ass and defended itself from republican criticism of the leaks, while at the same time serving its duty to the state, and of course, making some money in the process

.

In a nutshell, the role of the media is US is to serve as propaganda arm of the govt, another branch of govt like executive, legislative, and judiciary; not pursuit of truth or uphold "freedom of speech". Only the DDM idiots in their pursuit to impress the whites even if it means their actions are detrimental to India's interests, to the extent they even care, takes these principles seriously.

sunnyP · Post by **sunnyP** » 13 Dec 2010 04:59

Bizarre:

Digvijay doubts WikiLeak that Modi was to be targeted by LeT

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday expressed doubts over WikiLeaks claim that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was to be targeted by terror group Lashkar e Taiba and alleged the document could have been tampered with by "capable people" in BJP. The Congress general secretary said
he feels that "capable people" in BJP could have tampered with the WikiLeaks document.

"WikiLeaks open to tampering and I must say that the people in BJP are quite capable of tampering with the document like the Pakistani media did," he told reporters in New Delhi.

"The Pakistani media doctored the WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks cable said there were concern about Narendra Modi that Narendra Modi's life was threatened by Lashkar e Taiba. Thank God! My name is not mentioned," he added.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Digvijay- ... 37284.aspx

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 Dec 2010 05:11

^^^ Now he doubts his paymasters in Embassies!

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 13 Dec 2010 08:27

Digvijay Singh has gone over to Islamist side. He may be doing it for political gain, but his recent statements fall into that bucket quite well. Once in that reality distortion field, right is left, up is down and true is false. I only hope Chidambaram's agencies keep close watch on him because the next step will not be far away now that he's decided to adopt this behaviour.

Thankfully, Pakistanis cannot vote in Indian elections, and such views have limited purchase in India.

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 13 Dec 2010 08:43

This will be a test case for Sonia and Manmohan to see what they do with this moronn Digvijay..... I have to say that if there is no action against him its a clear case of S & M being complicit and proving Mulford's point about Congress being the biggest and most cynical player of religious politics in India.

negi · Post by **negi** » 13 Dec 2010 08:45

^ Manmohan is no different from Digvijay his speech from top of Lal quila is a proof of the same.He gets sleepless nights for closet jihaids but is shameless enough to hang around with the bunch that killed thousands of Sikhs in 1984 .

abhischekcc · Post by **abhischekcc** » 13 Dec 2010 09:25

Digvijay is Sonia's pet. He was/is the go-between man between Sonia and naxals. He is doing nothing that does not have at least a tacit approval of that family. The same was the case with Antulay. Raising doubts to fend off pressure for real work and results against Islamic terrorists is the goal of these statements.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 13 Dec 2010 09:48

How old is he? Maybe Diggy's going senile......after all it took him two years to recall that he had a phone conversation with Shri Karkare.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 13 Dec 2010 10:09

He recalled the conversation for a purpose. Not because he is going senile.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 13 Dec 2010 11:01

^^^^^

That was supposed to be sarcasm.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 13 Dec 2010 11:23

It's time for President Obama to lead a global crackdown on cyber criminals like the WikiLeaks sympathizers who attacked U.S. companies last week, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Sunday. Sites for MasterCard, Visa and PayPal were sabotaged in a string of cyber attacks after cutting ties to notorious classified document-dumper WikiLeaks. "America is the most targeted nation in the world," Gillibrand told reporters Sunday.

New York Daily News

AjayKK · Post by **AjayKK** » 13 Dec 2010 12:33

vera_k wrote:Digvijay Singh has gone over to Islamist side. He may be doing it for political gain, but his recent statements fall into that bucket quite well. Once in that reality distortion field, right is left, up is down and true is false.

Digvijay Singh just joined P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee in the race for the Top job, which may get empty after some round of Wiki2G Leaks. All the three have proved their credentials (?) by commenting on "saffron" terror. The rest of the leaks, LIC housing finance scams etc. appear to be internal games.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Dec 2010 13:08

I have feeling the kind of statements he is making have the tacit blessings of 10 janpath, though a public show of disciplining him will be made in response to protests.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 13 Dec 2010 15:00

This may explain why Diggy Raja is doing what he is:
http://telegraphindia.com/1101213/jsp/n ... 293359.jsp
Echo of Arjun in Digvijay rhetoric --- RASHEED KIDWAI

Some party leaders privately describe the tussle as one between “Quick Gun Murugan” (Chidambaram) and “Albela” (Digvijay). Quick Gun Murugan is a recent movie whose trigger-happy hero is capable of taking on all adversaries, while Albela, a fifties Hindi film, caricatures a carefree man. In Digvijay’s context, though, it has the implications of a loose cannon, many state Congress leaders feel. They cite the perception that Digvijay’s statements on Karkare are part of a strategy to woo the minorities in Uttar Pradesh, a state he is in charge of, ahead of the 2012 Assembly polls.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 13 Dec 2010 18:41

Julian Assange wined and dined at US Embassy
Julian Assange was a guest at a US Embassy cocktail party less than a year ago.

To the United States, Julian Assange may now be Public Enemy Number One. Some American politicians have even called for his execution.

But less than a year ago, the founder of WikiLeaks was officially entertained at a US Embassy cocktail party by one of the very diplomats whose secrets he would soon spill to the world.

At the reception, held at the US ambassador's residence in Reykjavik, Iceland, Mr Assange chatted with Sam Watson, the embassy's deputy chief of mission.

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WikiLeaks: 'Operation Payback' targets Paypal 09 Dec 2010

He was already sitting on dozens of Mr Watson's classified cables at the time of the December party, including embarrassing details about America's and Britain's role following the collapse of Iceland's banks which were later published to widespread outrage in the local media.

"He certainly had fun at the party," said Birgitta Jonsdottir, an Icelandic MP and former activist in WikiLeaks. "He went as my guest. I said it would be a bit of a prank to take him and see if they knew who he was. I don't think they had any idea."

Mr Assange's site had already published dozens of leaks embarrassing to the US, including secret Guantanamo Bay detainee handling manuals and the full emails of Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate. The US State Department condemned the manuals' publication as "a criminal act."

Mr Assange went straight to the party from WikiLeaks' Icelandic base, known as "the bunker," where he was working on the release of a top-secret US Army video showing an attack on civilians in Iraq.

By the time of the party WikiLeaks had also already taken delivery of around 600,000 classified US Army logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, released earlier this year, plus the 250,000 secret US embassy cables which it is releasing now.

"I thought it would be a bit boring to go on my own," said Ms Jonsdottir. "But the irony was that I went to collect him from his guesthouse and couldn't find him, so just went back to work and didn't even go myself. I found out later he'd just decided to go on his own and got in by saying he was my guest. He said he'd spent a long time talking to Mr Watson."

A confidential cable written by Mr Watson, published by WikiLeaks, detailed discussions between him and Ian Whiting, the British ambassador to Reykjavik.

Mr Whiting wanted to block a proposed to hold a referendum on whether Iceland should repay the British Government after many Britons lost money in the collapse of the Reykjavik bank Icesave.

After the collapse, the British government refunded individual savers in Icesave from its own deposit protection scheme. However, institutional savers, including many local authorities, have not been repaid, and Britain continues to seek full repayment from Iceland for them and for its own expenditure on individual savers.

The US embassy in Reykjavik declined to comment on Mr Assange's invitation.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... bassy.html

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 13 Dec 2010 19:30

Stan_Savljevic wrote:This may explain why Diggy Raja is doing what he is:
http://telegraphindia.com/1101213/jsp/n ... 293359.jsp
Echo of Arjun in Digvijay rhetoric --- RASHEED KIDWAI
Some party leaders privately describe the tussle as one between “Quick Gun Murugan” (Chidambaram) and “Albela” (Digvijay). Quick Gun Murugan is a recent movie whose trigger-happy hero is capable of taking on all adversaries, while Albela, a fifties Hindi film, caricatures a carefree man. In Digvijay’s context, though, it has the implications of a loose cannon, many state Congress leaders feel. They cite the perception that Digvijay’s statements on Karkare are part of a strategy to woo the minorities in Uttar Pradesh, a state he is in charge of, ahead of the 2012 Assembly polls.

I really don't uderstand Digvijay's problems. Sometimes I feel he is extremely frustrated and sometimes I think he is taking a fall guy position on someone's behalf to completely destroy Sonia system being an insider. By the way his brother is in BJP. The number of muslims killed during his MP CM ship is simply so much that Gujarat and 93 Mumbai riots will look like just examples. The MP police hunted for anyone more than 15 years of age in Bhopal ghettos and killed them during his CM ship. That is the irony and no media worth its salt will ever even bring this up.

Post 26/11, the problem that INC is facing is not votes of minorities. In spite of them they lost Bihar. If minorities in UP vote for congress it will be a huge disaster for both congress and SP. Congress game plan was to get upper caste vote and minorities together. After Ayodhya verdict, the upper caste vote solidified towards BJP in Bihar and it is possible that the samething could happen in UP too. Soft Hindutva is what will bring the upper castes towards INC and if they can get minorities in conjunction they will make some dent. Right now it doesn't look like that. Mayawati is firmly in the saddle and most probably she will carry the state again. SP and INC will tussle with each other to see who is supreme mullah. BJP is trying to get back to basics with Hindutva faced OBC (lower cream of BCs) and upper castes. Uma Bharati's return is a certainity for that purpose.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 Dec 2010 03:37

Tribune op-ed by TV Rajeshwar.

India needs to improve security

WikiLeaks highlights threat from Pak
India needs to review its security measures
by T.V. Rajeswar

MANY documents released by WikiLeaks have yielded disturbing information about India’s security environment. American Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson had conveyed to the US State Department in September 2009 that Islamabad would always support the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). The ambassador had specifically said that the Pakistan Army and its ISI were covertly sponsoring four militant groups, including the LeT, the Afghan Taliban and the latter’s allies, the Haqqani and Hekmatyar networks, and would not abandon them for any amount of US money. It was also pointed out that there was no chance of Pakistan considering enhanced financial assistance as sufficient compensation for discontinuing its support to these groups.

{If anyone followss game theory, Prof. Bruno Mesquita in his book "Predictioneer's Game" had said that TSP can be induced to discontinue support to the terrorists if given sufficient money!}

A leading think tank based in Delhi, the Observer Research Foundation, has come out with the information that the LeT has a core cadre strength of 50,000 trained and armed men — 5000 in Karachi and the rest across Punjab. The cadre consists of dedicated men, and many of them are former army and ISI commandos. They have access to the latest weapons and funds. The Punjab Government of Pakistan had also reportedly made a grant of nearly $1 million in 2009.

All these factors only underline the need for India to be vigilant against the threat from Pakistan, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. There are further reports that the LeT has opened its units in Nepal and Sri Lanka for running training camps for the infiltration of cadres into India. It is mentioned that from Sri Lanka these terrorists are likely to launch attacks on specific targets in South India. This is the first time that South Indian targets have been mentioned in any of the LeT plans. One wonders whether the LeT cadres are targeting the comparatively peaceful southern part of the country by launching attacks on some of its famous temples at Rameswaram, Madurai, etc. The consequences throughout India of such attacks can be imagined. Possibly, these elements are looking for opportunities to disturb communal peace by planning such attacks.

The WikiLeaks expose has also thrown light on the dangerously unstable situation in Pakistan. President Asif Zardari has been afraid of being overthrown or even assassinated by the Army. Zardari asked for US help for protecting his life as well as ensuring that in the event of his being overthrown, his sister should be made the next President and not his son Bilawal as was thought after Benazir Bhutto’s death. The latest reports state that Zardari has sought asylum for his family and himself from the President of the UAE. Benazir herself had stayed in exile for many years in Dubai before her return to Pakistan and her subsequent assassination.

Gen Ashfaque Kayani, however, has his own idea about President Zardari’s succession. General Kayani mentioned his own choice, A. Wali Khan of the Awami National Party, as a possible replacement. The government led by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani would, however, remain undisturbed so as to pre-empt fresh elections in which case former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif might stage a comeback. General Kayani hates Nawaz Sharif more than anyone else and hence his choice for the Awami National Party chief.

Despite Pakistan’s economy being in serious trouble, American appraisals have it that Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than any other country in the world. This has been mentioned in one of the cables released by WikiLeaks. The assessment was made in 2008. At the same time, the safety of a huge quantity of enriched uranium in one of the nuclear facilities in Pakistan was causing security concerns to the US which seriously thought of lifting the enriched uranium with the consent of the Pakistan Army. Pakistan, however, later backtracked on it.

It may be recalled that after the LeT attack on Indian Parliament in December, 2001, the Indian Army came out with Operation Parakram, resulting in massive forward troop mobilisation along the western front. The exercise was more in the nature of a warning shot to Pakistan since the troops were called back after US intervention.

The diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show that in the aftermath of the 26/11 killings by ISI-assisted LeT terrorists, Pakistan expected an attack from India — Operation Cold Start — and Islamabad was prepared to consider the nuclear option if the need arose. India did not go beyond holding discussions with Pakistan at various levels and urging it to prosecute all those involved in the 26/11 attack, an exercise still going on.

What is clear from all these exchanges is that Pakistan is prepared to consider exercising the nuclear option if faced with setbacks in a normal confrontation with India. With Pakistan being in an unstable state and with the dominance of the army over all the aspects of life in Pakistan, India has to be on the alert all the time.

Former Pakistan ruler Gen Parvez Musharraf has gone on record with his assertion that he trained terrorist groups to operate from Pakistan on a regular basis. Now that the former US Ambassador has clearly testified to the fact that whatever be the financial disbursement and the pressure from the US, Pakistan will never give up on Kashmir. The Kashmir problem has never been easy for India to handle all these years. The report of the interlocutors sent to Kashmir to talk to the various sections of people and politicians and come up with their suggestions for a solution has to be awaited. We know well the stakes involved in resolving the Kashmir problem.

The Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister is quoted as having said that a Pakistan military leader told him that the Pakistan Army was no match to the Indian Army — the justification given by Pakistan why it needed nuclear weapons.

The US has reportedly told Pakistan that it needed to have a new security arrangement with India as a pre-condition for a civilian nuclear deal with Washington DC. Senator John Kerry, considered a foreign policy czar in the US, reportedly told this to Zardari in Islamabad in January 2010. Kerry has also reportedly advised Zardari to have a security arrangement with India in the interest of Pakistan’s own stability.

Another bit of interesting information is that General Kayani told a top American diplomat that the Pakistan Army wanted resumption of back channel talks with India but President Zardari was against it. General Kayani reportedly has the backing of General Pasha of the ISI in this regard. This thinking should be encouraged and eventually there may be talks with General Kayani himself since he is the most important man in Pakistan today. General Kayani and General Pasha may be encouraged to talk directly with Indian interlocutors, who may consist of the National Security Adviser and the Army Chief.

Now one can draw the conclusion that Pakistan would never give up supporting the terror groups like the LeT and would use them for creating problems for India, at least in Jammu and Kashmir.

The writer is a former Governor of UP and West Bengal.

More importantly he was a former IB chief. He is also old school IB and can look at foreign and domestic issues. Very refreshing analyisis. And sort of explains why Cold Start has to be garam hawa. The TSP is so unstable it will go nuclear so long as its a two person game. India has to work on the 3.5 friends and show them its in their own interests to neuter the TSP. Right now with its limited maal its India centric. With more it will be all azimuth threat.

Its worse then Bay of Pigs.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 14 Dec 2010 07:10

HT article posted above wrote:"WikiLeaks open to tampering and I must say that the people in BJP are quite capable of tampering with the document like the Pakistani media did," he told reporters in New Delhi.

"The Pakistani media doctored the WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks cable said there were concern about Narendra Modi that Narendra Modi's life was threatened by Lashkar e Taiba. Thank God! My name is not mentioned," he added

Pakistani media did not "tamper" the cables. They just said things that came straight out of their musharraf and they attributed it to wikileaks.

Is all the media that has reported on the Modi threat - in the pay of BJP to make up stuff (like the paki media did)?

Are these people not even capable of simple logic...I mean go ahead and slander somebody, but atleast be smart about it..

How much coverage was there on the paki media lying in Indian media - of the media type that this fellow reads?

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 14 Dec 2010 12:49

Ramanna,decades ago,during Clinton's reign,the USA turned a blind eye to Pak's N-ambitions and allowed the PRC to sponsor Pak into the N-club.This was to checkmate India and maintain a US monitored Indo-Pak military balance.The boot is now on the other foot,where (from the leaks) the US is now worried about the security of Pak's nukes and N-material as Pak is now the provider and the ISI the would-be monitor and patron of the Islamist anti-west/India terror groups who would love to get their hands on Paki N-matter and shove in up the nether end of Uncle Sam.This and the need to "retreat with honour" from Afghanistan is being milked for every cent's worth by the Paki military.Perhaps with Heil-Brooke's untimely exit,we might see a more straightforward individual as replacement -if that is at all possible in the US.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 14 Dec 2010 16:07

All-out "cyber war" to begin...".Fallout of Wikileaks and its worldwide supporters who have condemned Assange's arrest,are now waging war against anti-Assange "hackivists".Assange as said before has become the 21st century's "Che" and his guerillas are cyberwarriors.

The use of cyberwarfare is rapidly growing with other reports of cyberwarfare being used to cripple Iranian uranium enrichment centifruges/equipment,allegedly by the Israeliss or US.Latest Newsweek on the covert war that has begun against Iran.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media ... 59567.html

'Prepare for all-out cyber war'
Government sites braced for attack by pro-WikiLeaks 'hacktivists'

By Cahal Milmo and Nigel Morris
Tuesday, 14 December 2010

Xcpt:

websites as evidence mounts that the backlash against the arrest of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is rapidly growing into a mass movement that aims to cause widespread disruption on the internet.

Extra security measures have been added to a host of government web services, in particular those used to claim benefits or provide tax information, after Sir Peter Ricketts, the national security adviser, warned permanent secretaries across all departments that "hacktivists" who last week targeted the sites of companies such as MasterCard and PayPal could switch their focus to Britain.

The ability of amorphous groups such as Anonymous to disrupt and paralyse websites was displayed again yesterday when hackers obtained the passwords of 1.3 million users of the gossip website Gawker and posted them online. The motivation for the attack, claimed by a group calling itself Gnosis, was unclear, but Gawker has previously published blogs criticising Mr Assange and 4chan, the messaging board that spawned Anonymous. In the wake of the attack, Gawker's Twitter accounts were hijacked to publish messages supporting WikiLeaks.

Amazon, the world's biggest online retailer, insisted yesterday that the disappearance of its European websites for about 30 minutes on Sunday was due to a "hardware failure". The company is one of those which had been threatened as part of Operation Payback, the attempt by Anonymous to mount attacks against companies which withdrew services from WikiLeaks in the wake of its publication of US diplomatic cables.

The anger of Mr Assange's supporters is likely to be increased by a claim from his British lawyer yesterday that a grand jury has been secretly empanelled in Virginia to consider charges against the Australian over the diplomatic telegrams.

IS ANYWHERE SAFE ONLINE?

* The attacks on Visa, MasterCard and Amazon prompted by the WikiLeaks affair have grabbed the headlines – but the hackers who have tried to bring those sites down have merely inconvenienced users. The latest attack on Gawker is part of a more frightening phenomenon where users registered with certain websites find that their personal information is vulnerable to determined experts with malicious intent.

There are many other examples besides Gawker, some of them based on technical vulnerabilities, others on users' carelessness. The online social world Second Life has had customer accounts hacked, revealing personal information. Scammers have successfully drained PayPal accounts through iTunes by hoaxing people into giving up passwords. And any email account is at risk if a hacker decides to target you and you either have an obvious password or an easily bypassed password reset system – if, for instance, your password can be obtained via a secondary email account that you have allowed to expire and that a hacker can re-register.

Those risks are made greater when companies do not deploy adequate security. But experts say that many apparently secure sites can be ripped open by sufficiently sophisticated hackers. To minimise the risks, it makes sense to only give sensitive personal information to websites you trust.

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 14 Dec 2010 16:49

Philip wrote:All-out "cyber war" to begin...".Fallout of Wikileaks and its worldwide supporters who have condemned Assange's arrest,are now waging war against anti-Assange "hackivists".Assange as said before has become the 21st century's "Che" and his guerillas are cyberwarriors.
...

Anonymous takes down Visa, Amazon, PayPal, Swiss bank, Assange prosecutor: Amazon and Facebook next on Operation: Payback list

Things falling right into place for Unkil to go all out for clamping down on the Internet in the name of cyber-security. Internet Security "Patriot" Bills already being formulated. If this succeeds, it will be a perfect COINTELPRO operation. Bye bye alternative media and free speech.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 14 Dec 2010 18:30

Lee Kuan Yew on Burma's Stupid Generals
http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?i ... GAPORE1932

shynee · Post by **shynee** » 14 Dec 2010 20:46

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange granted bail by UK court

Amitava · Post by **Amitava** » 15 Dec 2010 08:22

U S Air Force Blocks Media Sites

The U.S. Air Force is blocking its personnel from using work computers to view the websites of the New York Times and other major publications that have posted classified diplomatic cables, people familiar with the matter said.

Air Force users who try to view the websites of the New York Times, Britain's Guardian, Spain's El Pais, France's Le Monde or German magazine Der Spiegel instead get a page that says, "ACCESS DENIED. Internet Usage is Logged & Monitored," according to a screen shot reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The notice warns that anyone who accesses unauthorized sites from military computers could be punished.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... sNewsForth

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 Dec 2010 08:33

Well where is the need to know?

Amitava · Post by **Amitava** » 15 Dec 2010 09:02

From a discussion at slashdot (emphasis added)

Speaking as a federal employee, we've already been told that we are not to access the classified documents leaked on Wikileaks unless we already have clearance and authority to view such documents (which I don't, of course). On the other hand, we were also told that we're not restricted from viewing independent reporting about the leaked documents; that is, if the NYT talks about what's in a classified diplomatic cable, we can read the article no problem, but if they serve up a copy of the document, we're supposed to avoid it.

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 15 Dec 2010 13:11

Gus wrote:
HT article posted above wrote:"WikiLeaks open to tampering and I must say that the people in BJP are quite capable of tampering with the document like the Pakistani media did," he told reporters in New Delhi.

"The Pakistani media doctored the WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks cable said there were concern about Narendra Modi that Narendra Modi's life was threatened by Lashkar e Taiba. Thank God! My name is not mentioned," he added
Pakistani media did not "tamper" the cables. They just said things that came straight out of their musharraf and they attributed it to wikileaks.

Is all the media that has reported on the Modi threat - in the pay of BJP to make up stuff (like the paki media did)?

Are these people not even capable of simple logic...I mean go ahead and slander somebody, but atleast be smart about it..

How much coverage was there on the paki media lying in Indian media - of the media type that this fellow reads?

Diggy is not talking to you and me, the people he is really addressing (and probably Diggy himself) have only the vaguest idea of how the internet, web, etc. work, and the hosting of WikiLeaks cables.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 15 Dec 2010 15:51

How could BRFites miss this news??

Time readers select Assange as 'Person of The Year'

Amitava · Post by **Amitava** » 15 Dec 2010 18:30

Pratyush wrote:Time readers select Assange as 'Person of The Year'

Time.COM, of course, chickened out. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is Time's official Person of the Year.http://www.time.com/time/specials/packa ... 83,00.html

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 Dec 2010 22:11

Two blogs on Wikileaks:

Unkown Blogger Who changed the WikiLeaks conversation

....
But among that list you'd also find Aaron Bady and his blog zunguzungu.wordpress.com. His probing analysis of Julian Assange's personal philosophy and possible motivations became an oft-cited piece of the global conversation about what WikiLeaks might mean. Before Bady's November 29 post, Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy; "To destroy this invisible government", only a few hundred people a day found their way Bady's blog. In the days afterward, tens of thousands of people swarmed to the site -- and Bady ended up linked by some of the most influential media outlets on the planet.

This article explores how that happened because it shows that in today's media landscape, an act of journalism can spread quickly to the very highest levels of the culture and news industry, no matter where it comes from. Bady follows in the footsteps of Josh Marshall, who began Talking Points Memo to cover the Florida recount and Michael Barnett, who heroically covered the Katrina catastrophe. But Bady might be most like Doris Dungey, the blogger known as Tanta, who called and explained the bursting of the housing bubble anonymously from her home in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. A long-time mortgage industry insider, Dungey's blog posts were cited by The New York Times' Paul Krugman and carried a weight that stemmed from her knowledge and writing skill, not her (then-unknown) credentials.

So, who is this latest unknown to come out of nowhere to shape the national debate around a major issue? Bady is a seventh-year PhD student in African literature at the University of California, Berkeley who studies "the literature of empire and colonialism in the last two centuries." He's finishing up his dissertation on white Americans in Africa between the civil war and the civil rights movement.

and the original blog quoted above:

Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy; “To destroy this invisible government”

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 15 Dec 2010 23:02

How Wikileaks is very much part of the Establishment:

Who is Behind Wikileaks?
by Michel Chossudovsky

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=22389

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 15 Dec 2010 23:27

Anything from "globalreasearch.ca" has about as much credibility as TSPA's Bakwasi Qureshi's press releases.

mandrake · Post by **mandrake** » 16 Dec 2010 02:20

Are the documents somewhere still there for download in all?