Wikileaks release contains blunt U.S. assessments of world leaders

Erbil, Nov. 29 (AKnews) –The Whistle-blowing website Wikileaks has begun releasing selected secret cables sent by US embassies around the world to Washington which contain blunt assessments of world leaders, Australia's the Daily Telegraph reports on its website. The US government has condemned the release of the documents described as the largest intelligence leak in history. The U.S. government says they put the lives of diplomats and others at risk. In a statement, the White House said: "Such disclosures put at risk our diplomats, intelligence professionals, and people around the world who come to the United States for assistance in promoting democracy and open government." Wikileaks said Sunday on its Twitter feed that it had come under attack from a computer-hacking operation ahead of the release of the cables. It has only posted, so far, 220 of the 251,287 messages sent by U.S. embassies around the world to Washington it has obtained. It says the rest will be released over the next few months. They contain blunt assessments of world leaders. Some of the most damning assessments of world leaders contained in the cables are the following: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is "feckless, vain and ineffective as a modern European leader", whose "frequent late nights and penchant for partying hard mean he does not get sufficient rest". Germany's Angela Merkel "avoids risks and is rarely creative". Iranian President Mahmoud Amhadinejad is likened to "Hitler". Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan governs with "a cabal of incompetent advisers". Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is an "alpha dog", but President Dmitry Medvedev is "pale and hesitant" and "plays Robin to Putin's Batman". Lybian president Muammar Gadaffi is "strange" and "accompanied by voluptuous blonde Ukranian 'nurse'". French President Nicolas Sarkozy "has a thin-skinned and authoritarian personal style" and is an "emperor with no clothes". Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has repeatedly called on the US to "cut the head off the snake" and stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Raber Y. Aziz/AKnews Monday, November 29th 2010 8:57 AM