Assange is an opportunistic hypocrite, stop making a martyr of him.

Over-reactions are the greatest treat for rabble-rousers such as Julian Assange. Watching everyone go mental - over revelations that the diplomatic corps uses common sense and pragmatism - must be enjoyable with a bucket of popcorn and CNN blaring from the widescreen TV.

Is Assange a terrorist? If he were, he would have attempted to extort plenty of concessions from the governments concerned. Blackmail is effective as long as it is hidden from the public eye. Ergo he isn't. He is better described as a token sociology student on a liberal campus who hasn't grown up; the sole improvement on his campus utopianism is an acute opportunism.

He won't tackle Russia, China, North Korea, Iran or Syria for one, very important reason: he wants to stay alive. The shadiest regimes place little value on human life or foreign image. Were they to feel threatened, Assange would be stiff the next morning, and his staff with him.

Nor will Wikileaks ever get major scoops on these regimes either. Little value on life means, inevitably, the leaker's entire family and cohort of drinking buddies shot, or interned.

Wikileaks, and Julian Assange, know their victims will not harm them when push comes to shove. He is no freedom activist or world-changer. He will not stand up to the real bullies and will never knowingly place his life on the line. He is a voyeur whose fetish is watching - from a safe distance - "it" hit the fan and splatter.

Dear politicians: stop making a terrorist of who is - in reality - a hypocritical, opportunistic weakling. Just catch him, try him for what he is guilty of and give him what's coming to leakers.

Cablegate makes me trust my diplomatic services MORE, not less!

Whoever calls "cablegate" the 9/11 of diplomacy is guilty of exaggeration. I read some of the communications and personally think they are simply captivating. Most of them cover topics and opinions of more-than-common knowledge. We already knew, for instance, that the Saudis recently performed an air-defence shutoff drill, to allow Israeli planes to fly over the kingdom en route to bombing Iran. Is it a surprise to anyone, then, that the Saudi king himself wanted the US to do the dirty work in this Shia-Sunni struggle?

There is scope for scandal, as in any revelation of secret correspondence. Yet the laying bare of the nuts and bolts of diplomacy reveals, if anything, a greater amount of judgment and knowledge than we could ever have credited the American government with. Honestly, Washington would be quite daft not to take all this analysis into account, which they fail to do on a staggeringly regular basis.

I repeat: if Washington had used this intelligence fully, it would mess up its policies less often than it does now. 

Two cables, among the ones I read, really struck me as masterpieces of analysis. One is from the outgoing Ambassador to Zimbabwe (here), where we catch a rare glimpse behind all rhetorics into what really happens in that country. Another, much closer to home, comes from Moscow and deals with a diplomat's experience of a wedding in the Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a part of Russia. (here) 

If you're lazy, read only the last paragraphs from the latter, and you might understand why many state-building strategies tried in Afghanistan have failed. That one memo, in that God-forsaken country, could help us more than Macchiavelli's Prince in cracking the Afghan government model. Not top-down, but a patchwork of loyal local elders and warlords.

Anyone studying Intelligence Gathering 101 will, soon, be given a copy of this memo from the Department of State regarding, of all things, anti-American murals in Teheran being removed. It's the most exhaustive background and analysis guide I've seen about such a trivial topic. 

Favourite quote: the President of Yemen saying he doesn't mind whiskey smuggling into his ward, as long as it's good stuff and doesn't come with firearms and drugs.

All in all, these leaked cables hardly show collusion or some sort of conspiracy. They instead, in the majority of cases at least, paint a picture of diplomats and leaders who know exactly what's going on and can see through each other's lies. Imperfections and ignorance, such as Netanyahu being oblivious to the need for good and efficient governance in Palestine, merely confirm deductions based on previous behaviour patterns.  The "Honesty Award" goes to the aide to Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Zhang Yannian, and His Excellency himself. The quote deserves to be reproduced in its entirety.

"This is all about money," he said. He understood from the Kyrgyz that they needed $150
million. The Ambassador explained that the U.S. does provide $150 million in assistance to Kyrgyzstan each year, including numerous assistance programs. Zhang suggested that the U.S. should scrap its assistance programs. "Just give them $150 million in cash" per year, and "you will have the Base forever." Very uncharacteristically, the silent young aide then jumped in: "Or maybe you should give them $5 billion and buy both us and the Russians out." The aide then withered under the Ambassador's horrified stare.

The aide's sole mistake was to simply sum up the total aid packages offered by China and Russia. The young and naive soul forgot the extra fee for keeping it quiet and converting it all to cash, about 3 billion. One for each interested party (Kyrgyz, Chinese and Russian).

This is not diplomacy's 9/11, yet. For those who believed they had US diplomats fooled, this will be a wake-up call. To everyone else, it's business as usual and some great insight. At least half of these memos are materials worthy of international relations textbooks, pity no-one can profit from them now.

Wikileaks' FAQ section is full of idealistic notions of principles, government accountability, human rights and other noble aspects of how human existence should proceed. Some of Assange's endeavours have indeed caused sea-changes in public perception. The latest is, as far as I can see and guess, a flop; aside from exposing the State Department's obsession with deluges of useless information (frequent flyer cards? come on!).

That countries are run differently from world affairs in general is no secret. A government has obligations to its citizens to rule transparently and account for what it does on home soil. Abroad, you're in a different world altogether. Diplomats must use local methods and knowledge to further their country's aims, even if by our standards they may seem objectionable. Julian Assange fails to grasp, apparently, the difference between living by your principles and impaling yourself on them. 

Call me a cynic. I am grateful that leaders and diplomats, in private, aren't as callous, deluded and clueless as they seem in public. It is reassuring.

Youth for Agop kicks off with a great event

Take a group of passionate youngsters, stir in motivated grown-ups and serve in a downtown location. The outcome: an awesome event by Youth for Agop at the Rosalies restaurant in Montreal.

The launch event shows how Agop's campaign in Pierrefonds-Dollard is betting on youth involvement to succeed. Judging by the quantity and quality of the turnout, we can expect great achievements from this bunch. Well-blended into the crowd, Senators Housakos and Brazeau were sharing their knowledge, experience and opinion. Closer to home, members of the Pierrefonds-Dollard association board were engaging with the younger guests, receiving feedback and scouting for campaign help. I also had the pleasure of meeting Outremont candidate Rodolphe Husny and Union-Montreal's Barbara Pisani.

The speakers explored several themes, hinging on personal experiences and the importance of young people in politics. This made the event delightfully unusual: traditional rhetoric was momentarily cast aside to reveal a great wealth of insight. One of the pearls, in my opinion, was provided by Agop himself. He reconciled the interests of youth and the older generation, quoting polls that show similarities in both groups' priorities.

This was followed by an unusual, yet true assessment: young people may own the future, but they always need the previous generation to help build it. Agop extends a very supportive hand, as I have had the opportunity to appreciate personally. Other candidates, and the Party, should definitely take notice of his strategy with youth involvement. The event of yesterday proves the value of both empowerment (which most politicians tend to dish out) and realistic discipline, which is often overlooked.

Agop reminded his younger audience that before making a really marked contribution to society, one must have been capable of succeeding in one's own endeavours. He sees, in his youth campaign, the awesome potential, the need for solid ground on which to stand on and the obvious limitations to what young activists can achieve alone.

With such an involved and in-touch candidate, Youth for Agop is set to become a very precious asset for his campaign. I really look forward to the next event and definitely urge all of my friends in DDO and Pierrefonds to lend Agop a hand.