WHAT ILLEGAL LEAKS CAUSE – AT 7:48 A.M. ET:  We don't normally quote Britain's fashionably left newspaper, the Independent, but this story seems well reported, and reflects information that I've seen from other sources as well.  Worth reading:

Battered by a scandal which seems to provide a fresh wave of embarrassment with each passing day, the US government is being forced to undertake a major reshuffle of the embassy staff, military personnel and intelligence operatives whose work has been laid bare by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

The Obama administration was yesterday facing a crisis in its diplomatic service, amid growing evidence that the ongoing publication of a tranche of supposedly-confidential communiqués will make normal work difficult, if not dangerous, for important State Department employees across the world.

A mere 1,100 of the roughly 250,000 secret documents obtained by the website have so far been published, leading to fears that the unhelpful revelations will continue for months to come, destabilising US relations with almost all of its key allies and inflaming tensions with already-hostile governments in the Middle East and beyond. "In the short run, we're almost out of business," a senior US diplomat told the Reuters news agency, saying it could take five years to rebuild trust. "It is really, really bad. I cannot exaggerate it. In all honesty, nobody wants to talk to us ... Some people still have to, particularly (in) government but ... they are already asking us things like, 'Are you going to write about this?'"

COMMENT:  I hope The New York Times is proud of itself.  I'd imagine that in trendy journalism schools all over the country, instructors are telling their students what a great moment in journalism this is.  Ah yes, just like the Pentagon Papers leak during Vietnam.

But the leak of the Pentagon Papers was small change compared to WikiLeaks, which has done untold damage to American diplomacy and defense.

Several observers have noted that it is highly unlikely that the Army Pfc charged with aiding WikiLeaks was responsible for all the leaking.  He must have had help.  There is informed speculation that much higher individuals fed some of the material either to him, or to WikiLeaks directly.

And yet, the indifference of official Washington to what has happened continues to astound us.  Even Republicans appear far too casual about the damage.  Major investigations are called for.  We will expect them to begin when the new, Republican-controlled House takes over in January.  If Republicans fail in this, they are not capable of governing.

People will be killed because of these leaks.  American interests will be set back.  The war on global terror will be compromised.  Anyone care?

December 6, 2010