WikiLeaks Unveils Largest Release Ever – The Kissinger Cables
Ryan Martin / 12 years ago
WikiLeaks continues its tradition of releasing confidential information with the release of what is dubbed the “Kissinger Cables”. This included the release of formerly confidential information that includes 1.7 million diplomatic records from 1973 to 1976 of which 205,901 are connected to American diplomat and US Secretary of State (at the time) Henry Kissinger.
The sum of the release by WikiLeaks is 700 million words long and contains “significant revelations about US involvements with fascist dictatorships, particularly in Latin America, under Franco’s Spain (including about the Spanish royal family) and in Greece under the regime of the Colonels.”
These files should have been reviewed for declassification after 25 years, meaning they should of been released in 2001-2003 but the US government repeatedly attempted to reclassify them to hide secrets of America’s diplomatic past. In order to make these documents publicly accessible WikiLeaks obtained all the files from the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) and sorted them into a single, searchable database.
“The US administration cannot be trusted to maintain the history of its interactions with the world,” said founder Julian Assange. “Fortunately, an organisation with an unbroken record in resisting censorship attempts now has a copy.”
The Kissinger Cables form the largest component of WikiLeaks’ public library of US Diplomacy (PlusD) which has been launched today and has two million records for you to browse.
You may or may not agree with the tactics of WikiLeaks, but what they do is hold governments accountable – a key tenet of democracy. The effort is valiant and it is good to see a strong and well-known organisation pursuing causes that most people would otherwise forget about or choose to ignore.
What do you think of WikiLeaks latest release? Are you excited to see what might be revealed from it?
