The WikiLeaks cables are now fully publicly available information. There are at least 74 mirror sites. There are of course selected newspapers that are also revealing contents as they become available. There is no way that governments can stop this, I believe. There are hundreds of thousands of cables to come. My blog this morning on the purchase of missiles by State was stimulated by just one of these cables, concerning the negotiations with Yemen’s President to buy such arms in Yemen’s possession.
The cables themselves publicize government’s actions. This by itself acts to reinforce and support the government’s actions, in my opinion. The old adage is “all publicity is good publicity.” Undoubtedly, government supporters will use them to praise what government is doing. It’s as easy to generate support for getting missiles out of the hands of anyone but State-run armed forces as it is to get support for banning handguns. Those of us who interpret the government’s actions that are shown in these cables as against government itself will be using the internet and the blogosphere. This is highly effective, and government knows it and acknowledges it. That’s why it’s trying to suppress it. For example, one State Department cable from Moscow includes this language: “Besides the usual lineup of opposition newspapers and websites, the MK article ensures that a broader swath of society will learn about this incident — already it has spawned a sharp reaction of support for the students and condemnation of the MVD in Russia’s blogosphere.” Reaction and opinion in the blogosphere has a definite social and political impact on those in authority.
10:17 am on December 5, 2010
