WikiLeaks did 'significant damage' to diplomacy, State official says
State's assessment of disclosure of classified cables differs starkly from comments made by Defense secretary.
Taking issue with the appraisal made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a top State Department official said on Wednesday the WikiLeaks disclosure of thousands of classified cables have done "substantial damage" to U.S. diplomatic efforts.
"It's going to complicate U.S. diplomacy and international cooperation for a long time after the headlines stop," said the official, who was authorized to speak to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The senior State official's assessment differed starkly from that offered by Gates, who called the disclosures "embarrassing" and "awkward," but with only a "fairly modest" effect on diplomacy. Gates was asked whether he had made contact with foreign counterparts about the leaks. He said he had not.
The senior official said that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already acted to try to "mitigate" the effects of the release of thousands of private conversations, leader assessments, and internal instructions. According to the official, 186 countries have been contacted by the U.S. -- "virtually everyone who will take our calls."
The official said the State Department expects countries to be more reticent in scheduling meetings with high-level officials in the future, and worries that the U.S. inability to secure diplomatic communications will make it more difficult to work together on issues of transnational significance.
"We have a lot of work to do to rebuild people's trust," the official said.
The official noted that several interagency efforts have been established to better protect classified information, but said that State's own procedures were already tight; only in rare and supervised circumstances can State employees download classified information from networks classified as "secret." The Defense Department is working quickly to catch up.
The State official also denied allegations that the "the line has blurred between diplomacy and espionage."
"We do not ask our officers to perform duties outside diplomatic practice," the official said.