State Dept. officials privately tell Congress that WikiLeaks cables are "embarrassing, not damaging"

[Better Believe It]

U.S. officials privately say WikiLeaks damage limited
By Mark Hosenball
January 18, 2011

Internal U.S. government reviews have determined that a mass leak of diplomatic cables caused only limited damage to U.S. interests abroad, despite the Obama administration's public statements to the contrary.

A congressional official briefed on the reviews said the administration felt compelled to say publicly that the revelations had seriously damaged American interests in order to bolster legal efforts to shut down the WikiLeaks website and bring charges against the leakers.

But State Department officials have privately told Congress they expect overall damage to U.S. foreign policy to be containable, said the official, one of two congressional aides familiar with the briefings who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"We were told (the impact of WikiLeaks revelations) was embarrassing but not damaging," said the official, who attended a briefing given in late 2010 by State Department officials.

Read the full article at:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70H6TO20110118?pageNumber=1

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[bobthedrummer]

2. That was bs then, same as now. K&R#5

1-19-11 WikiLeaks: the latest developments (Simon Jeffery/The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jan/19/the-us-embassy-cables-wikileaks

[qb]

3. What an embarrassing revelation!

:eyes:

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. That's a start.