US in the eye of WikiLeaks storm, Pakistani daily

ISLAMABAD - The US is in the eye of a storm following the WikiLeaks expose and “must come clean on issues which are bound to agitate people and governments across the world”, a Pakistani daily said Tuesday.

Dawn said in an editorial that a damage control exercise “will be a poor response to the embarrassment caused to the Obama administration by the latest bout of revelations by WikiLeaks”.

“The variety and nature of the leaks are stunning and likely to cause serious misgivings worldwide and compromise, to Washington’s disadvantage, that trust which is so essential to diplomacy.

“Some revelations are nasty, but that is nothing new to the world of statecraft.”

Commenting on the expose, it said: “What is unique about the revelations now is their nearness in time and their inflammatory potential for Muslim communities.”

“Normally, information declassified decades later provides valuable research material for scholars, who are able to put them in historical perspective and see the difference between substance and inanities. Here it is the documents’ relevance to current history that is stupefying and is bound to start a new and serious debate worldwide about the American system’s ability to keep secrets.”

It went on to say that in Pakistan, “those who for years have viewed with suspicion America`s intentions about Islamabad`s nuclear programme would consider themselves vindicated over information that Washington had made plans to relocate enriched uranium”.

The editorial warned that governments across the globe “must get ready for a popular backlash because information that was meant for the eyes and ears of policymakers is now public”.

“But basically it is America which is in the eye of the storm. It must come clean on issues which are bound to agitate peoples and governments across the world, especially in this region.”