This week, the international community witnessed the largest breach of American diplomatic confidentiality to date. The website WikiLeaks dumped nearly 250,000 secret State Department documents referring to topics ranging from popular uprisings in rogue nations to nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea. This leak of State Department communiqués that usually stay locked in file cabinets for decades before being released is being referred to as the “9/11 of diplomacy.” I think this huge leak of information should more accurately be called the “Katrina of diplomacy” because the world is watching, almost helplessly, as this information spews from the leaks it allowed to exist.

I expect that the leak and subsequent fallout will ultimately amount to a complete reset of American diplomatic efforts around the world. Everything our allies thought about us will be questioned, and our motives will now be run through a new filter built by these WikiLeaks documents.

Some are calling the release of the documents treason, and some are calling it information terrorism. I contend that it is a mixture of both. The documents were taken by a member of the military whose access allowed him to pull the documents. Treason is an appropriate charge for what this member of the American military has done to our nation’s security. As far as the founder of WikiLeaks, Mr. Assange, his actions amount to information terrorism based on the fact that his release of this information was done with the intent to embarrass and cripple the United States’ standing in the world. As we will see in the coming weeks, much harm can be inflicted upon a nation and her people without firing a bullet.

The lives  and careers of spies, ambassadors, and government officials across the globe are at stake and America’s ability to perform the delicate diplomatic dance as the sole superpower in the post-Cold War era is hanging in the balance.

Where do we go from here? Let’s hope the leaders in Washington, regardless of party, unite in a common goal of rebuilding America, both financially and diplomatically, in hopes of remaining the leader of the free world whose mission is to expand the sphere of human dignity and democratic ideals.

The last bite…

My food experiences of the last week were action-packed! First there was Thanksgiving, of course, where the amount of good food eaten should be a crime against scales everywhere. From pecan pie to fresh cranberry sauce! Then, in the middle of this weeklong buffet, Courtney decided to make chocolate bark at home! We had lime and macadamia nut white, citrus and cherry dark, and s’mores milk chocolate bark in massive quantities. I give the entire week 5 Crumbs! (out of 5)

Buddy Boe, a resident of LaPlace, is a former parish administrator and is well known on the local political (and food) scenes. His column appears every Wednedsay in L’Observateur.