Wikileaks

I'm really having trouble seeing the outrage over the Wikileaks release of American diplomatic cables. I suppose the State Department doesn't want these made public, and I understand that. But I think most of the outrage over Julian Assange comes from right-wingers who prefer to live in an America isolated from the rest of the world and which we can bomb if they cause us any problems.

I say this because I see little the US should be embarrassed by in the documents. In fact, I see a situation where the State Department struggles with the same questions as the rest of the informed world. North Korea is crazy and unpredictable. Iran's neighbors are nervous at their nuclear weapons program. No one wants to take Guantanamo prisoners.

What is particularly shocking here? Nothing. If anything, the cables just reinforce what I already thought about U.S. foreign policy--that for the most part, we don't really understand many of the countries that oppose us. Big deal. I'd have been more interested if the cables showed any real comprehension of the problem and created a path forward in dealing with Iran or North Korea.