After Spiegel published details of the Wikileaks' diplomatic cable cache early, the New York Times has also gone live with some coverage. It reports that the documents amount to a 'huge sampling' of daily traffic between the U.S. State Department and embassies abroad. Among the revelations:
• There is a secret standoff with Pakistan over highly enriched uranium, which the U.S. fears could be 'diverted' to build 'illicit' nuclear weapons.
• There's a plan for unifying Korea after the North collapses, and China's in on it.
• Guantanamo Bay's closure is mired in shifty cash deals with foreign governments to take prisoners. Also, the Afghan government is corrupt, plus ca change.
• Hacking! The Chinese government has owned Google, the Dalai Lama, "American businesses," and more!
• Saudi Arabia pays for the terrorism and Qatar sucks at counterterrorism.
• Our spies have learned that Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi have some kind of weird bromance going on involving 'lavish gifts' and 'lucrative energy contracts.' Silvio is essentially acting as Putin's man in the EU.
• His power in Russia is absolute, but the bureaucracy there is so epic it allows Putin to be 'ignored.'
• The U.S.is failing to prevent Syria arming Hezbollah.
• The U.S. 'warned' Germany not to arrest CIA agents who bungled a rendition and kidnapped an innocent German citizen.
• "9/11 of diplomacy" IDs Putin as Batman and Medvedev as Robin
• Colonel Gadaffi uses Botox to maintain own youth, beauty
• "Global diplomatic crisis" sparked. U.N. spied on; Saudis want Iran bombed
• Korea unification plan; Illicit Pakistan nukes; U.S. warns Germany
• Wikileaks.org "under attack"
• Wikileaks under legal assault
• US will press criminal charges against Manning
