Wikileaks.org has released 250,000 classified U.S. diplomatic dispatches on Sunday, which is said to be the biggest intelligence leak in U.S. history. The following are some excerpts from the dispatches that were sent to the State Department by U.S. embassies around the world regarding various leaders.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe: A minister in the South African government calls Mugabe “a crazy old man.” U.S. Ambassador Christopher W. Dell writes: “Mugabe is “more clever and more ruthless than any other politician in Zimbabwe… To give the devil his due, he is a brilliant tactician and has long thrived on his ability to abruptly change the rules of the game, radicalize the political dynamic and force everyone else to react to his agenda.” Mugabe also seem to believe that his 18 doctorate degrees give him the authority to suspend the laws of economics, including supply and demand. Ambassador Dell goes on to explain: “The regime has become so used to calling the shots and dictating the pace that the merest stumble panics them. Many local observers have noted that Mugabe is panicked and desperate about hyperinflation at the moment, and hence he’s making mistakes. Possibly fatal mistakes. We need to keep the pressure on in order to keep Mugabe off his game and on his back foot, relying on his own shortcomings to do him in.” He added: “Mugabe and his henchman are like bullies everywhere: if they can intimidate, you they will. But they’re not used to someone standing up to them and fighting back.”
[Most of the above description about Mugabe can be also be said about Ethiopia’s tyrant Meles Zenawi. There are 1,623 dispatches from Ethiopia to be released by Wikileaks. We will post them when they become available. Read more about Mugabe here.]
North Korea’s Kim Jong-il: Flabby old chap who suffers from ‘physical and psychological trauma.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel: Risk aversive and rarely creative.
Russia President Dmitry Medvedev: A pale, hesitant figure who plays Robin to Putin’s Batman.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi: Cannot travel without what one diplomat described as his “voluptuous blonde” Ukrainian nurse. The report, from the US embassy in Tripoli, disclosed that Colonel Gaddafi appeared to be afraid of staying on upper floors and disliked flying over water. He enjoyed horse racing and flamenco dancing and was upset when he was refused permission to pitch his Bedouin tent in New York City.
French President Nicholas Sarkozy: Emperor with no clothes; thin-skinned, authoritarian with a tendency to rebuke his senior team repeatedly for their alleged shortcomings.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel: Avoids risks and is rarely creative.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh: Saleh was viewed by U.S. diplomats as “dismissive, bored and impatient” during a meeting he held with John Brennan, a senior adviser to the US President on national security. In a meeting with former American commander in the Middle East General David Petraeus, Saleh reportedly said: “We’ll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours.”