OPINION:
The WikiLeaks circus has been in the news for several weeks, but it has turned bizarre in the past few days (“International Subversives,” Commentary, Thursday).
Even though major media outlets are crying foul, apparently the vast majority - if not all - of the 250,000 documents contain little information that could be viewed as critical, and the classification level is secret, not top secret. By all indications at this point, WikiLeaks’ founder and spokesman, Julian Assange, and his purported accomplice, U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, have accomplished more in dealing with Iran’s out-of-control nuclear program than all the world’s ambassadors and diplomats combined.
Early cursory examination of this latest leak indicates massive volumes of internal memos, e-mails and letters revealing that virtually all Middle Eastern leaders have been discreetly pleading with the major powers to act against Iran and its possible nuclear capability. One Saudi went so far as to ask the United States to “cut off the head of the snake.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranians must be very concerned after this latest WikiLeaks disclosure. Ironically, though this was not the intent of Mr. Assange, he has managed to disclose to the entire world that the curtain is coming down on Iran and its nuclear-weapons hopes, with its fellow Middle Eastern states suddenly aligning themselves with the West. When one looks closely at this dangerous and most difficult calamity facing the world, the WikiLeaks exposure may well have been the only survivable method of handling Iran. We do, indeed, live in a strange world.
JAMES W. ANDERSON
Talladega, Ala.
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