US Warns Allies of WikiLeaks Release

With a potentially harmful WikiLeaks release on the horizon, the US is doing some preemptive damage control. Embassies are warning American allies that diplomatic cables could expose “sensitive information” and analysis as well as the sources of such information, reports the Washington Post. Outing officials who offer embarrassing details about their governments could hurt future intelligence gathering, said a State Department official.

“Typical cables describe summaries of meetings, analysis of events in other countries and records of confidential conversations with officials of other governments,” said the official. "They are classified for a very good reason.” Ahead of the possible leak, American embassies are reportedly scouring hundreds of thousands of cables; the State Department has been bracing for a possible release for months, an insider told CNN.
(More WikiLeaks stories.)