Disappeared News

“The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” —Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

Wikileaks posted approximately 1.7 million diplomatic cables on its website over the weekend, identified as the “Kissinger Cables.” Tweeters were quick to pounce on P860114-1573_MC_b,  titled AID CUT-OFF:CYPRUS and dated March 10, 1975, which included the following exchange between Kissinger and Turkish and Cypriot officials:

Esenbel: The Europeans should find ways to meet quick needs; for example, the Air Force needs spare parts. For other items that they can't find in the stocks, maybe you could make a deal with the Dutch or others to send it here.

Macomber: That is illegal.

Kissinger: Before the Freedom of Information Act, I used to say at meetings, "The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer." [laughter] But since the Freedom of Information Act, I'm afraid to say things like that. We'll make a major effort.

The cables are posted along with a search engine, and it is certain that millions of curious individuals and organizations around the world are sifting through the data. Expect new revelations as news media fish new morsels of information out of the treasure trove over the next few days.

The cables were previously available at the National Archives but hard to locate and view. Wikileaks has created a “value-added” product in that the cables are easily searchable in a variety of ways.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 4/08/2013 07:25:00 AM