Perhaps the most embarrassing thing I have come to realize with the latest WikiLeaks installment is how poorly the Obama administration has performed when it comes to restoring America's image in the world and the relationships it says was hurt by George W. Bush. I have already listed some of the comments towards the world's leaders, and here are a few more of the leaks with actions committed by officials of the Obama administration:
Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly urged the U.S. to attack Iran, The Guardian reports:
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear programme, according to leaked US diplomatic cables that describe how other Arab allies have secretly agitated for military action against Tehran.
The revelations, in secret memos from US embassies across the Middle East, expose behind-the-scenes pressures in the scramble to contain the Islamic Republic, which the US, Arab states and Israel suspect is close to acquiring nuclear weapons. Bombing Iranian nuclear facilities has hitherto been viewed as a desperate last resort that could ignite a far wider war.
The New York Times leads with a nuclear standoff with Pakistan:
A dangerous standoff with Pakistan over nuclear fuel: Since 2007, the United States has mounted a highly secret effort, so far unsuccessful, to remove from a Pakistani research reactor highly enriched uranium that American officials fear could be diverted for use in an illicit nuclear device. In May 2009, Ambassador Anne W. Patterson reported that Pakistan was refusing to schedule a visit by American technical experts because, as a Pakistani official said, "if the local media got word of the fuel removal, 'they certainly would portray it as the United States taking Pakistan's nuclear weapons,' he argued."
The London Telegraph surmises that the U.S. may have been "spying" on UN personnel:
A classified directive under the name of Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, in July 2009 called for email addresses, phone, fax and pager numbers, credit card details and frequent-flyer numbers for UN personnel.
Technical details about the communications systems used by top UN officials, including Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General, such as passwords and encryption keys involved in UN communications were sought.
It also demanded "biographic and biometric information on UN Security Council permanent representatives" from Britain, China, Russia and France. Similar instructions were issued by Condoleezza Rice, Mrs Clinton's predecessor in the Bush administration.
And Israel tried to coordinate its Gaza assault with Mahmoud Abbas, Haaretz reports:
In a June 2009 meeting between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and a U.S. congressional delegation, Barak claimed that the Israeli government "had consulted with Egypt and Fatah prior to Operation Cast Lead, asking if they were willing to assume control of Gaza once Israel defeated Hamas."