(Updated) Fineman on "The Politics of Wikileaks"

Howard Fineman:

The cables depict us in this world not just a wounded giant, but not a giant at all: begging countries to house our prisoners of war; busying ourselves with trivial tasks (collecting frequent flier numbers) while North Korea ships missiles to Iran; being lied to by Syrians; relying on the good will of Saudis even as they fund Sunni terrorists and demand that we destroy Iran's nuclear capability; fretting about Pakistan's loosely-guarded enriched uranium while remaining unable to influence what they do; elevating leaders in Afghanistan we know to be corrupt or insane or both.

The dominant impression is of an Obama administration full of good intentions and shrewd people, but dealing with raging, contradictory forces it cannot control or even fully understand. MORE...

Howie P.S.: "Wikileaks shows up our media for their docility at the feet of authority" (IndependentUK):

Perhaps the most curious aspect of the Wikileaks revelations is not that they have happened, but it took someone as mercurial as Mr Assange to be the conduit. Rather than throwing stones, newspapers should be asking themselves why they did not have the wherewithal to hold truth to power.