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A congressional official briefed on the reviews said the administration felt compelled to say publicly that the revelations had seriously damaged American interests in order to bolster legal efforts to shut down the WikiLeaks website and bring charges against the leakers...'
'I think they just want to present the toughest front they can muster,' the official said...
But State Department officials have privately told Congress they expect overall damage to U.S. foreign policy to be containable, said the official, one of two congressional aides familiar with the briefings who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity...
'We were told (the impact of WikiLeaks revelations) was embarrassing but not damaging, said the official, who attended a briefing given in late 2010 by State Department officials...
'From our standpoint, there has been substantial damage...We believe that hundreds of people have been put at potential risk because their names have been compromised in the release of these cables,'State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told Reuters.
A spokeswoman for the office of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, which oversees all U.S. intelligence agencies, said, 'The irresponsible and reckless behavior of WikiLeaks has of course caused damage and will continue to be damaging in the months and years to come.'
But current and former intelligence officials note that while WikiLeaks has released a handful of inconsequential CIA analytical reports, the website has made public few if any real intelligence secrets, including reports from undercover agents or ultra-sensitive technical intelligence reports, such as spy satellite pictures or communications intercepts.' |
