Here is a little addendum to your editorial “Unpalatable leaks” (Dec 3). Many politicians and party leaders are going around the country, trying to convince the public that 'WikiLeaks' is a conspiracy against Pakistan.

It is designed “to sour our relationship with the Islamic world” and “to malign our army”. These leaders have been fooling the public and lying through their teeth all their lives. They are not likely to change.

The leaks are actual transcripts of messages exchanged among various governments. The founder of WikiLeaks did not create them. He did not distort or select them just to hurt Pakistan. The public in Pakistan needs to use their own eyes and ears to judge what is right and wrong. There is a kind of paranoia that has permeated in our society and politicians tend to take advantage of it by distorting facts.

DR. AMAN KHAN

Lahore

Assange lauded INSTEAD of being condemned, Julian Assange, in my humble opinion, deserves a Nobel Peace prize for upholding the freedom of information and advocating transparency in the functioning of democracy. Modern technology has made it possible for the website to make such revelations, which should help prevent hypocrisy and double standards in relations among sovereign states.

It is unfortunate that the upholders of democracy and transparency should condemn Assange as a “criminal” or as an “anti-American operative with blood on his hands”. He is also being threatened with legal action. But such measures against him are unlikely to succeed as the US Supreme Court is likely to uphold the freedom of information and the rights of the citizens to know the truth.

The American press has played a great role in the past in bringing to an end the cruel wars in Vietnam and Iraq and succeeded in dethroning President Nixon on the ground of misuse of the government machinery in the Watergate scandal. The American people should be proud of their independent and ever vigilant press, which guards their interests and exposes the foul deeds and dirty games of their governments.

WikiLeaks' revelations are shocking about Pakistan, Saudi-Arabia and Afghanistan. To be brief, we read such headlines as 'Zardari being the great hurdle in the progress of Pakistan'; 'U.S. trying to remove enriched uranium from the soil of Pakistan'; 'Pakistan being the most bullied U.S. allie', 'Kayani's intended threat to intervene for ending the lawyer's long march', 'Kayani informed U.S. envoy in Islamabad of his intention to remove Zardari and replacing him with appointing Asfandyar Wali Khan'; Zardari's apprehension of being assassinated and proposing his sister to succeed him, etc.

These disclosures were made to the American ambassador in Islamabad in order to seek his approval. The conclusion one can draw is the American Embassy which provides the guidelines for governing Pakistan.

A.S. PINGAR

Karachi

Damage control In an attempt to control the damage and to off-set the embarrassment that WikiLeaks had caused to Pakistan and the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly called President Asif Ali Zardari the other day. She is said to have regretted the leaks and assured him that the leaks would not affect bilateral relations and that Washington would continue to support the democratic setup in this country.

Nowhere has the Secretary challenged the authenticity of the leaked material. She simply conceded with regret that it brought embarrassment to the Pakistani leadership.

Surprisingly, the presidential spokesperson, Farhatullah Babar, said that the two leaders agreed that the leaks were 'unauthorised'. There was no word on the authenticity or otherwise of the leaked material. The two leaders also agreed that these would not be allowed to cast a shadow on the (so-called) 'strategic partnership' between the two countries.

More surprisingly, as if nothing serious had happened, the spokesperson insisted that the leaks were already “a thing of the past and the president looks forward to the future and the promise it holds”.

In yet another effort for the damage-control, the Defence Committee of the Cabinet met in Islamabad and deliberated on this burning issue. The same would, of course, be discussed at other government forums as well.

In my opinion, the real damage control strategy would be a complete overhauling of the foreign policy, re-assessment of Pakistan's relations with the United States and a dead-brake to the growing clout or blatant interference of American embassy in Pakistan's domestic politics and security issue.

FATIMA SIDDIQUI

Islamabad

Pakistan in limelight In the State Department, due to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks and so far reported, Pakistan is in the limelight once again — a South Asian country to which terrorism has been the greatest threat since the past few years. Now these WikiLeaks have proved that terrorism is not the only threat which the people of this country are confronted with, but the biggest threat for Pakistan is its insincere political leadership who are totally exposed before the world.

Pakistanis may expect anything from their corrupt leaders but it's quite shocking that the Army chief is very much involved in all this controversy which is quite shameful for us as a nation. General Ashfaq Pervez Kyani has already become a contentious figure because he has been called as the 'real architect' of the dubious NRO and undue extension of three years to his service tenure. The US's denial of WikiLeaks is quite ridiculous in this regard.

WikiLeaks has, on the one hand, once again badly damaged Pakistan's reputation all over the world and, on the other hand, it has exposed the top military and political elite. There is no conspiracy against our leaders by any nation. WikiLeaks are based on actual facts and ground realities and our 'sincere and patriotic leaders' know this very well. The president, prime minister and army chief should resign from their posts in the best interest of the country; neither are they capable enough to stay in power, nor do they enjoy masses' support any longer.

Ms Lubna Sunawar

Rawalpindi