Wikileaks_ Cablegate files

Summary

Wikileaks began on Sunday November 28th publishing 251,287 leaked United States embassy cables, the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain. The documents will give people around the world an unprecedented insight into US Government foreign activities.
The cables, which date from 1966 up until the end of February this year, contain confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the State Department in Washington DC. 15,652 of the cables are classified Secret.
The embassy cables will be released in stages over the next few months. The subject matter of these cables is of such importance, and the geographical spread so broad, that to do otherwise would not do this material justice.
The cables show the extent of US spying on its allies and the UN; turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse in "client states"; backroom deals with supposedly neutral countries; lobbying for US corporations; and the measures US diplomats take to advance those who have access to them.
This document release reveals the contradictions between the US's public persona and what it says behind closed doors - and shows that if citizens in a democracy want their governments to reflect their wishes, they should ask to see what's going on behind the scenes.
Every American schoolchild is taught that George Washington - the country's first President - could not tell a lie. If the administrations of his successors lived up to the same principle, today's document flood would be a mere embarrassment. Instead, the US Government has been warning governments -- even the most corrupt -- around the world about the coming leaks and is bracing itself for the exposures.
The full set consists of 251,287 documents, comprising 261,276,536 words (seven times the size of "The Iraq War Logs", the world's previously largest classified information release).
The cables cover from 28th December 1966 to 28th February 2010 and originate from 274 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions.

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United States - Visa and Mastercard beneficiaries of State Department lobbying effort

WikiLeaks Staff, 8 December 2010, 14.00 GMT

More articles ...
- U. S. Empire Secret Shopping List

Visa and Mastercard both received lobbying support from the Department of State under President Obama, the latest Cablegate release reveals.
A cable from the Moscow embassy, dated 1st February 2010, details a new Russian card processing law which the embassy said would “disadvantage U.S businesses”, and urged senior US officials to take action. (click here).
“This draft law continues to disadvantage U.S. payment card market leaders Visa and MasterCard, whether they join the National Payment Card System or not,” it said.
Russia was considering whether to implement a new system of card payments (called NPCS), which would create a new payment processor run by Russia’s state banks. This would then handle all processing for domestic banking in the country.
“The fees for these services are estimated at Rb 120 billion ($4 billion) annually...the vast majority of Visa’s business in Russia is done with cards issued and used in Russia; with earnings from processing going to NPCS, Visa would no longer profit from these transactions.”
When discussing possible causes of the restrictive legislation, a senior Visa employee in the country told embassy officials he believed the move was due to Russian suspicions that Visa and Mastercard passed information to the US government.
“[Redacted]  believes that, at least at the Deputy Minister level, MinFin’s hands are tied.  Implying that Russian security services were behind this decision, [redacted] said, ‘There is some se-cret (government) order that no one has seen, but everyone has to abide by it."   “As described reftel, credit card company and bank representatives have told us that GOR (government of Russia) officials apparently assume that US payment systems routinely share data associated with payment transactions by Russian cardholders with intelligence services in the US and elsewhere.”
The embassy’s economic officer, Matthias Mitman, concluded his cable by calling for action.
“While the draft legislation has yet to be submitted to the Duma and can still be amended, post will continue to raise our concerns with senior GOR officials,” he said.
“We recommend that senior USG officials also take advantage of meetings with their Russian counterparts, including through the Bilateral Presidential Commission, to press the GOR to change the draft text to ensure U.S. payment companies are not adversely affected.”

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S E C R E T TEL AVIV 001984

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER EG KPAL IR IS
SUBJECT: DEFENSE MINISTER BARAK'S DISCUSSIONS IN EGYPT
FOCUS ON SHALIT, TAHDIYA, ANTI-SMUGGLING, AND IRAN

Classified By: DCM Luis G. Moreno, Reason 1.4 (b) (d)

(S) Summary.  Defense Minister Ehud Barak's August 23 visit to Egypt was a success, according to MOD Arab Affairs Adviser David Hacham.  Barak's meetings with President Mubarak, Intelligence Minister Soliman, and Defense Minister Tantawi focused on reviving negotiations for the release of Corporal Shalit, the Israeli assessment of the Tahdiya (Calming) with Hamas in Gaza, and Egypt's anti-smuggling efforts.  Hacham said the Israelis were "shocked" by President Mubarak's aged appearance; their most substantive exchanges were with Soliman.  Hacham said Iran was also on the agenda, with the Israeli and Egyptian sides agreeing they had a common strategic interest in containing Iran's regional ambitions.  Our sense is that the Israeli-Egyptian relationship is gradually improving since the beginning of the Tahdiya in June.  Barak and MOD in particular are committed to maintaining a strategic relationship with Egypt.  MFA Director General Abramovich reportedly also is planning to visit Egypt next week to meet Foreign Minister Abul Gheit.  End Summary.

(S) MOD Arab Affairs Adviser David Hacham, who was a member of Barak's delegation, provided Pol Couns with an overview of Barak's August 23 discussions with the Egyptian leadership in Alexandria.  Hacham restricted himself to a broad overview of the three meetings (Mubarak, Soliman, and Tantawi) without describing any of them in detail.  On Shalit, Hacham said the Egyptians confirmed that their discussions with Hamas had broken down.  Hamas had refused to attend a meeting Soliman tried to arrange shortly before Barak's arrival.  The Israelis think Hamas feels that the prisoner exchange with Hizballah had strengthened their hand in terms of how many and what kinds of prisoners Israel would be willing to give for Shalit.  Soliman was keeping the pressure on Hamas, but the Israelis were frustrated at Hamas' stalling tactics.  In a separate conversation August 29, Egyptian Charge d'Affaires Tarek El Kouni told Pol Couns that Hamas was demanding Egyptian guarantees that Israel would not attack Gaza once Shalit was released.


(S) Regarding the Tahdiya, Hacham said Barak stressed that while it was not permanent,  for the time being it was holding.  There have been a number of violations of the ceasefire on the Gaza side, but Palestinian factions other than Hamas were responsible.  Hacham said the Israelis assess that Hamas is making a serious effort to convince the other factions not to launch rockets or mortars.  Israel remains concerned by Hamas' ongoing efforts to use the Tahdiya to increase their strength, and at some point, military action will have to be put back on the table.  The Israelis reluctantly admit that the Tahdiya has served to further consolidate Hamas' grip on Gaza, but it has brought a large measure of peace and quiet to Israeli communities near Gaza.

(S) Turning to Egypt's anti-smuggling efforts, Hacham said Barak had decided to praise Egypt's performance publicly both in genuine acknowledgement of some improvements in destroying tunnels and in order to show the Egyptians that Israel was capable of praising as well as criticizing them. In private, however, Barak also pushed the Egyptians to do more, particularly in terms of stopping the smuggling well before the arms reach the Gaza border.  The Israelis continue to believe that the principle smuggling routes are from the Red Sea coast across Sinai to Gaza, and Hacham complained that the Egyptians were still reluctant to tackle the entire smuggling chain.

(S) In terms of atmospherics, Hacham said the Israeli delegation was "shocked" by Mubarak's aged appearance and slurred speech.  Hacham was full of praise for Soliman, however, and noted that a "hot line" set up between the MOD and Egyptian General Intelligence Service is now in daily use.  Hacham said he sometimes speaks to Soliman's deputy Mohammed Ibrahim several times a day.  Hacham noted that the Israelis believe Soliman is likely to serve as at least an interim President if Mubarak dies or is incapacitated. (Note:  We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Soliman.)
(S) Iran reportedly was also on Barak's agenda.  Hacham did not provide details of the discussions, but said Barak  and the Egyptian leaders agreed that Israel and Egypt have a common strategic interest in stopping the expansion of Iranian influence in the region, as well as a common view of the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program.

(S) Comment:  Barak's visit and especially his public praise of Egypt's anti-smuggling efforts is evidence that MOD's close cooperation with EGIS in negotiating the Tahdiya has resulted in a new atmosphere in Israeli-Egyptian relations.  Barak's visit was preceded by Israeli-Egyptian mil-to-mil talks in Cairo, and will be followed by a visit to Cairo by MFA Director General Aharon Abramovich next week.   ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv  You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** CUNNINGHAM

Including many more... this is just one of many that are related to egypt alone...

http://www.wikileaks.ch/classification/3_0.html

http://www.wikileaks.ch/Visa-and-Mastercard-beneficiaries.html

http://www.wikileaks.ch/cablegate.html