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# "What has Wikileaks ever taught us?" ... Read on ...
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/what-has-wikileaks-ever-taught-us-read-on/
- Published: 2011-02-17T15:02:37.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:10:58.000Z
- Description: How often have we been told in world-weary tones that Wikileaks has revealed nothing new - especially by those who want to appear to be in the know? Here is an aide-mémoire of a few of the highest profile revelations.
- Author: Ryan Gallagher
- Tags: Media & communications, #Migrated, Politics & activism, internet, International politics, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:11

Since 2006, whistleblower website [WikiLeaks](http://213.251.145.96/?ref=opendemocracy.net) has published a mass of information we would otherwise not have known. The leaks have exposed [dubious procedures at Guantanamo Bay](http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/11/gitmo?ref=opendemocracy.net) and detailed meticulously the [Iraq War's unprecedented civilian death-toll](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wikileaks-iraqi-civilian-deaths-higher-reported/story?id=11953723&ref=opendemocracy.net). They have highlighted [the dumping of toxic waste in Africa](http://mirror.wikileaks.info/wiki/Ivory%5FCoast%5Ftoxic%5Fdumping%5Freport%5Fbehind%5Fsecret%5FGuardian%5Fgag/?ref=opendemocracy.net) as well as revealed America's [clandestine military actions in Yemen and Pakistan](http://www.allgov.com/US%5Fand%5Fthe%5FWorld/ViewNews/WikiLeaks%5FCables%5FConfirm%5FSuspected%5FUS%5FWarfare%5Fin%5FPakistan%5Fand%5FYemen%5F101203?ref=opendemocracy.net).

The sheer scope and significance of the revelations is shocking. Among them are great abuses of power, corruption, lies and war crimes. Yet there are still some who insist WikiLeaks has "told us nothing new". This collection, sourced from a range of publications across the web, illustrates nothing could be further from the truth. Here, if there is still a grain of doubt in your mind, is just some of what WikiLeaks has told us:

- American planes bombed a village in Southern Yemen in December 2009, killing 14 women and 21 children (see [Amnesty](http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/wikileaks-cable-corroborates-evidence-us-airstrikes-yemen-2010-12-01?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The Secretary of State's office encouraged US diplomats at the United Nations to spy on their counterparts by collecting biographic & biometric information (see [Wired.com](http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/11/u-s-chases-foreign-leaders-dna-wikileaks-shows/?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The Obama administration worked with Republicans to protect Bush administration officials facing a criminal investigation into torture (see [Mother Jones](http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/wikileaks-cable-obama-quashed-torture-investigation?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- A US Army helicopter gunned down two Reuters journalists in Baghdad in 2007 (see [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/06/us-iraq-usa-journalists-idUSTRE6344FW20100406?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/iraq-war-logs-military-leaks?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- In Iraq there were scores of claims of prison abuse by coalition forces even after the Abu Ghraib scandal (see [the Bureau of Investigative Journalism](http://thebureauinvestigates.com/2010/11/03/the-iraq-war-logs-2/?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Afghan President Hamid Karzai freed suspected drug dealers because of their political connections (see [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/30/world/main7102597.shtml?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the concept of “land swaps” (see [Yahoo News](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap%5Fon%5Fre%5Fmi%5Fea/ml%5Fwikileaks%5Fmideast%5Fpeace?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The United States was secretly given permission from Yemen's president to attack the Al-Qaeda group in his country (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-yemen-us-attack-al-qaida?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Then-Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and his top commanders repeatedly knowingly lied to the American public about rising sectarian violence in Iraq beginning in 2006 (see [the Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-25/wikileaks-shows-rumsfeld-and-casey-lied-about-the-iraq-war/?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The US was shipping arms to Saudi Arabia for use in northern Yemen even as it denied any role in the conflict (see [Salon.com](http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war%5Froom/2010/12/09/obama%5Fyemen%5Fsaudi%5Fhouthi%5Fconflict?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Saudi Arabia is one of the largest origin points for funds supporting international terrorism (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/242073?ref=opendemocracy.net)
- A storage facility housing Yemen's radioactive material was unsecured for up to a week (see [Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-20/wikileaks-yemen-nuclear-material-was-unsecured.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Israel destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, fearing it was built to make a bomb (see [the Sunday Times](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle%5Feast/article2461421.ece?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Top officials in several Arab countries have close links with the CIA (see [the Peninsula](http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/137385-many-arab-officials-have-close-cia-links-assange-.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Swiss company Trafigura Beheer BV dumped toxic waste at the Ivorian port of Abidjan, then attempted to silence the press from revealing it by obtaining a gagging order (see [WikiLeaks](http://mirror.wikileaks.info/wiki/Ivory%5FCoast%5Ftoxic%5Fdumping%5Freport%5Fbehind%5Fsecret%5FGuardian%5Fgag/?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Pakistan's government has allowed members of its spy network to hold strategy sessions on combating American troops with members of the Taliban (see [the New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/asia/26isi.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- A stash of highly enriched uranium capable of providing enough material for multiple "dirty bombs" has been waiting in Pakistan for removal by an American team for more than three years (see [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543%5F162-20024196-503543.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- US military Special Operations Forces have been conducting offensive operations inside Pakistan, despite repeated denials from US officials (see [the Nation](http://www.thenation.com/blog/156765/not-so-secret-anymore-us-war-pakistan?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- China was behind the online attack on Google (see [ZDNet](http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/wikileaks-china-was-behind-cyber-attack-on-google/7744?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- North Korea is secretly helping the military dictatorship in Myanmar build nuclear and missile sites in its jungles (see [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543%5F162-20025246-503543.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The Indian government "condones torture" and systematically abused detainees in the disputed region of Kashmir (see [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543%5F162-20025931-503543.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The British government has been training a Bangladeshi paramilitary force condemned by human rights organisations as a "government death squad" (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/21/wikileaks-cables-british-police-bangladesh-death-squad?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- BP suffered a blowout after a gas leak in the Caucasus country of Azerbaijan in September 2008, a year and a half before another BP blowout killed 11 workers (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/15/wikileaks-bp-azerbaijan-gulf-spill?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Saudi Arabia's rulers have deep distrust for some fellow Muslim countries, especially Pakistan and Iran (see [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543%5F162-20023973-503543.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cables-saudis-iran?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Iranian Red Crescent ambulances were used to smuggle weapons to Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group during its 2006 war with Israel (see [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/29/world/main7099393.shtml?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Dozens of US tactical nuclear weapons are in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium (see [Jerusalem Post](http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=197410&ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The Libyan government promised "enormous repercussions" for the UK if the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, was not handled properly (see [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543%5F162-20024926-503543.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Pope Benedict impeded an investigation into alleged child sex abuse within the Catholic Church (see [MSNBC](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40616870/ns/us%5Fnews-wikileaks%5Fin%5Fsecurity/?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness carried out negotiations for the Good Friday agreement with Irish then-prime minister Bertie Ahern while the two had knowledge of a bank robbery the Irish Republican Army was planning to carry out (see [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543%5F162-20025428-503543.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC has infiltrated the highest levels of government in Nigeria (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- A US official was told by Mexican President Felipe Calderon that Latin America "needs a visible US presence" to counter
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's growing influence in the region (see [Yahoo News](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap%5Fon%5Fre%5Fla%5Fam%5Fca/lt%5Fwikileaks%5Fmexico%5Fvenezuela?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Cuba's economic situation could become "fatal" within two to three years (see [Business Week](http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-12-10/cuba-s-economy-may-become-fatal-in-two-years-u-s-cable-says.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- McDonald's tried to delay the US government's implementation of a free-trade agreement in order to put pressure on El Salvador to appoint neutral judges in a $24m lawsuit it was fighting in the country (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/21/wikileaks-cables-mcdonalds-us-el-salvador?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- British officials made a deal with the US to allow the country to keep cluster bombs in the UK despite the ban on the munitions signed by Gordon Brown (see [Politics.co.uk](http://www.politics.co.uk/news/foreign-policy/wikileaks-cluster-bomb-plot-to-mislead-parliament--$21386043.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The British government promised to protect America's interests during the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/30/wikileaks-chilcot-iraq-war-inquiry?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The US government was acting on behalf of GM crop firm Monsanto in 2008, when the US embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country which opposed genetically modified (GM) crops (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/03/wikileaks-us-eu-gm-crops?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Pfitzer tested anti-biotics on Nigerian children, contravening national and international standards on medical ethics (see [Medical News Today](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/42922.php?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Prisoners at Camp Delta (Guantanamo Bay) were denied access to the Red Cross for up to four weeks (see [the Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8152326/WikiLeaks-release-Timeline-of-the-key-WikiLeaks-revelations.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- More than 66,000 civilians suffered “violent deaths” in Iraq between 2004 and the end of 2009 (see [the Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8152326/WikiLeaks-release-Timeline-of-the-key-WikiLeaks-revelations.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))
- Russia is a “virtual mafia state” with rampant corruption and scant separation between the activities of the government and organised crime (see [the Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-russia-mafia-kleptocracy?DCMP=EMC-thewrap08&ref=opendemocracy.net))
- The Obama administration tried to “sweet-talk” other countries in to taking Guantanamo detainees, as part of its (as yet unsuccessful) effort to close the prison (see [the New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/world/americas/30gitmo.html?ref=opendemocracy.net))*Cross posted with the* [*Frontline Club*](http://frontlineclub.com/blogs/RyanGallagher/2011/02/what-wikileaks-has-told-us.html?ref=opendemocracy.net)*.*