The public is getting an unprecedented glimpse into the way the U.S. conducts its diplomatic business, after controversial whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks released a cache of confidential documents sent by envoys.
WikiLeaks intends to post 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables on the Internet, a process which the website initiated on Sunday.
So far, the documents have provided an indication of what the U.S. really thinks about problems and issues in a range of countries from Kenya to North Korea.
A published U.S. State Department memo reveals that Washington believes Iran may have the capability to hit targets in Western Europe with North Korean-built missiles.
Another memo from the same department suggests that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pardoned suspected drug dealers who held connections to people in power.
Kenya was described as a "swamp" of corruption in one document, which prompted the U.S. State Department to call the Kenyan government to discuss the content of the leaked memos.
Even Canada has not been immune to the storm that has been triggered by the disclosures. A July 2008 cable from the U.S. embassy in Ottawa revealed that CSIS had been "vigorously harassing" Hezbollah members in the country, according to notes from a conversation with former CSIS director Jim Judd.
The documents being published online are not intended for public consumption and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called their unauthorized release an "attack on America."
Clinton also said that the U.S. government is taking "aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information," and she said WikiLeaks acted illegally in publishing the cables.
Ken Taylor, a former diplomat who once served as Canada's ambassador to Iran, believes the continuing disclosures will make diplomats think twice about the information they file to their governments.
Until the diplomatic community gets a handle on how to keep such information from getting out, Taylor told CTV's Canada AM that he predicts the WikiLeaks "will limit the candid conversations" that diplomats engage in.
That was a viewpoint shared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who told said "it will be more difficult for talented American diplomats to put into cables and reports things they once would have."
While some organizations have cheered the publishing efforts of WikiLeaks, world leaders have heaped scorn on the website for stirring up a diplomatic hornet's nest of problems.
Taylor said he believes WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be prosecuted for his role in obtaining and publishing the stolen diplomatic cables.
As for putting the documents online, Taylor said "it's not being creative, it's not being positive, it doesn't enlighten the public. All it does is inhibit and destruct the good flow of information that is absolutely fundamental to us in one way or another achieving a balanced global stability."
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
