1 00:00:02,430 --> 00:00:05,596 It was the scoop of the century. 2 00:00:05,596 --> 00:00:09,828 WikiLeaks lifts the curtain on the secret communications between Washington 3 00:00:09,828 --> 00:00:13,662 and the diplomats that we have stationed all over the globe. 4 00:00:13,662 --> 00:00:22,644 I'm not aware of any release of information in human history comparable to the amount that was released via WikiLeaks. 5 00:00:22,644 --> 00:00:26,763 These were cables that show the super powers' secret thoughts. 6 00:00:26,763 --> 00:00:32,931 It was hard for me to look Secretary Clinton in the eye when she was like, "How did this happen?" 7 00:00:32,931 --> 00:00:40,359 A quarter of a million US diplomatic messages apparently stolen by one of their own soldiers, 8 00:00:40,359 --> 00:00:47,460 turned into a global sensation by a whistle-blowing website and its controversial founder, Julian Assange. 9 00:00:47,460 --> 00:00:49,960 I like crushing bastards. 10 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:58,378 I think every diplomat around the world would have one overriding thought, "Thank God! It wasn't me," and "Thank God! It's not us." 11 00:00:58,378 --> 00:01:01,810 In the first in-depth television analysis of the secret cables, 12 00:01:01,810 --> 00:01:09,310 we lift the lid on how the world's greatest super power does business and how it gets what it wants. 13 00:01:09,310 --> 00:01:13,761 We reveal a super power on a mission to change the world. 14 00:01:13,761 --> 00:01:18,577 But a super power that sometimes fails to live up to its own ideals. 15 00:01:18,577 --> 00:01:19,743 It's a complete outrage -- 16 00:01:19,743 --> 00:01:28,743 Diplomats stepping in to attempt to obstruct the course of the criminal investigation. 17 00:01:28,743 --> 00:01:33,759 Over a year has passed since the leaking of the cables. 18 00:01:33,759 --> 00:01:35,590 [Protests] 19 00:01:35,590 --> 00:01:41,773 Now we assess what the impact of the leak has been in the US and beyond. 20 00:01:41,773 --> 00:01:46,489 And we ask, can American Diplomacy ever be the same again? 21 00:01:46,489 --> 00:01:48,075 They don't trust you anymore. 22 00:01:48,075 --> 00:01:53,592 Many of them don't, and it will take a long time, I think, to recover that trust. 23 00:01:57,614 --> 00:02:00,302 [WIKILEAKS: The Secret Life of A Superpower] 24 00:02:07,717 --> 00:02:11,774 It's late November 2010. 25 00:02:11,774 --> 00:02:16,325 Two journalists arrive at the US State Department in Washington DC -- 26 00:02:16,325 --> 00:02:22,774 The enormous ministry that controls America's relationship with the rest of the world. 27 00:02:22,774 --> 00:02:25,408 They're not here for a friendly chat. 28 00:02:25,408 --> 00:02:30,926 They're about to blow the lid on America's diplomatic secrets. 29 00:02:30,926 --> 00:02:34,408 They were maybe a dozen senior officials and, behind them, 30 00:02:34,408 --> 00:02:38,707 you know, at least a dozen more minions taking notes on laptops and so on. 31 00:02:38,707 --> 00:02:41,108 They represented not just the State Department 32 00:02:41,108 --> 00:02:45,442 but all of the intelligence agencies and the defense department. 33 00:02:45,442 --> 00:02:47,159 They did not look happy. 34 00:02:50,727 --> 00:02:54,974 The US State Department was facing a crisis unlike any other. 35 00:02:54,974 --> 00:03:02,127 A quarter of a million internal messages or cables between Washington and US embassies all over the world 36 00:03:02,127 --> 00:03:06,775 had found their way into the hands of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks 37 00:03:06,775 --> 00:03:10,977 and, from there, to five major newspapers. 38 00:03:10,977 --> 00:03:23,041 Their message at the opening of the meeting, in uncertain terms, was "You've been given stolen material -- classified material. 39 00:03:23,041 --> 00:03:26,969 There would be grave consequences if you publish any of it." 40 00:03:32,836 --> 00:03:39,505 At that meeting, one of the people leading the state department's response to the crisis was P.J. Crowley. 41 00:03:39,505 --> 00:03:43,487 These stories resulted from a crime. 42 00:03:43,487 --> 00:03:45,719 For us, this was still classified material. 43 00:03:45,719 --> 00:03:49,269 It was our responsibility to, you know, continue to protect them. 44 00:03:52,553 --> 00:03:57,753 The State Department was right to be worried. 45 00:03:57,753 --> 00:04:02,887 The cables reveal what American diplomats say when they think the world will never know -- 46 00:04:02,887 --> 00:04:04,786 Who they trust and who they mock, 47 00:04:04,786 --> 00:04:06,995 what they want and how they get it. 48 00:04:10,478 --> 00:04:15,245 "Some inside the US government dismiss [Berlusconi] as feckless, vain, and ineffective as a modern European leader." 49 00:04:15,245 --> 00:04:17,478 "Merkel is risk averse and rarely creative." 50 00:04:17,478 --> 00:04:24,815 "Gaddafi relies heavily on his long-time Ukranian nurse, who has been described as a 'voluptuous blonde." 51 00:04:24,815 --> 00:04:30,632 Detailed records from thousands of secret meetings and conversations involving US diplomats 52 00:04:30,632 --> 00:04:33,850 were about to become a media sensation. 53 00:04:33,850 --> 00:04:39,732 "Bank of England Governor Mervyn King expressed great concern about Conservative leaders' lack of experience." 54 00:04:39,732 --> 00:04:47,632 "It was related that King Abdullah remains a heavy smoker, regularly receives hormone injections, and 'uses Viagra excessively." 55 00:04:47,632 --> 00:04:55,683 Here were records of American diplomats' secret plans and strategies, their uncertainties and fears. 56 00:04:55,683 --> 00:04:59,683 "We should aim at influencing the narrow group of individuals that surround him." 57 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Saudi energy facilities remain highly vulnerable to external attack. 58 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [The Secretary of Defense] pointedly warned that urgent action is required. Without progress in the next few months, we risk nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. 59 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 All of this classified information was now in the hands of journalists. 60 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In Washington, there was panic. 61 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When the newspapers gave us access so that we could begin to get a sense of it, 62 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I think there was just a growing sense of horror. 63 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Can you remember Secretary Clinton's reaction? 64 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 She wasn't thrilled. [laughs] 65 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I mean, Secretary Clinton knew probably better than anybody exactly just how delicate some of our relations were with different countries. 66 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The leak threatened the basics of US diplomacy. 67 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When you're confronted with 250,000 cables, in a way, it's overwhelming. 68 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You know, it involves everything. 69 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But there was little they could do. 70 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The five newspapers had already agreed on a publication date. 71 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Nothing was going to stop them. 72 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 All the US government could do now was try to get ready. 73 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They knew that within a matter of weeks, the world would know their secrets, and the only question was how bad it would be. 74 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We knew that it was going to potentially do an enormous amount of damage to some of our key relationships. 75 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 What was the atmosphere like in the State Department that these cables would be there for all to see? 76 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Battening down the hatches. 77 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 On the 28th of November of 2010, it began. 78 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Huge trove of documents released just hours ago by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. 79 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The whistle-blowing website released another pile of government documents Sunday, including... 80 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Whoever leaked all those State Department documents to the Wikileaks website is a traitor. 81 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Within 24 hours, the cables had become a global sensation. 82 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's hard to think of a worse day for US diplomacy. 83 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 America's private opinions and conversations splashed across every front page in the world. 84 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [various news reports] 85 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So what's in there? Everything from global fears about Iran's nuclear programme to news that China may have sabotaged Google... 86 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Controversial and often embarrassing revelations include an American diplomat describing Prince Andrew as "rude and cocky." 87 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was like that moment when an email gets sent to the wrong person, only went to the whole world. 88 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 As the leaks poured out, foreign politicians looked on with horror. 89 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I think every diplomat around the world will have had one overriding thought: "Thank God it wasn't me," and "Thank God it wasn't us." 90 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There is nothing brave about sabotaging the peaceful relations between nations on which our common security depends. 91 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In the weeks after the leak, the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, traveled the globe saying sorry. 92 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Clinton even joked about getting special "apology tour" jackets made. 93 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But in some parts of the world, the fallout from the leak would be unstoppable. 94 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We had to pull our ambassador out of Libya, for example, because thugs were making threatening gestures to him. 95 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We had an ambassador in Mexico, the Mexican government had just made clear, "we can no longer do business with this American ambassador," 96 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and he's now being replaced. 97 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In Washington, tough questions were being asked. 98 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 President Obama's a pretty calm guy, even in tough times and stressful times. 99 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But he was clearly incredibly angry along with the rest of us, 100 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and the question, obviously, to me, and to others, was, "How in the world could this happen?" 101 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The suspect had been identified. 102 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Online chat logs had given him away. 103 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The suspected source was not a foreign government or a spy at the heart of the US machine. 104 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was an American soldier sitting in a remote base in the deserts of Iraq. 105 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Bradley Manning was a lowly PFC, a Private First Class, but he had access to a world of secrets. 106 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We live in a world now when, you know, a 20-something PFC in the American army can cause diplomatic damage of biblical proportions. 107 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 An enormous flaw in US military security that left American diplomats and the US State Department compromised. 108 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The State Department security was actually tighter than military security in this instance, 109 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so there was anger, disappointment, a feeling that this simply should not have happened. 110 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Is it embarrassing personally that it came out of your department? 111 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Well, of course, I mean, it was hard for me to look Secretary Clinton in the eye when she'd say, "How did this happen?" 112 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Because it did come out of the Department of Defense, it came out of a military installation. 113 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 As the cables made headlines around the world, some in America were demanding a tough response. 114 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 For them, the leak was the ultimate crime, and Bradley Manning a traitor. 115 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 What do you think of Bradley Manning? 116 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I think he committed treason, I think he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 117 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 What does that mean? 118 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Well, treason is the only crime defined by our Constitution. It says "treason shall consist only of levying war against [the United States], 119 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." 120 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 He gave our enemies a lot of aid and comfort. 121 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So what should happen to him? 122 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Well, he should be prosecuted, and if he's found guilty, he should be punished to the fullest extent possible. 123 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And what is that? 124 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Death. 125 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You think he should be killed? 126 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Yes. 127 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The leak had rocked America and created a global sensation. 128 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The superpower had shown it wasn't in control of its secrets. 129 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's now over a year since the first cables were released. 130 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So what has been the real impact of the leaking of these documents? 131 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And what have the cables really told us about how America does business in the world? 132 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The fallout from the secret cables was more than just damaged trust or lurid headlines. 133 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We found places where some believe that the cable release itself changed countries. 134 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In mid-October 2010, two Tunisian political activists, Sami Ben Gharbia and Malek Khadraoui, got hold of some of the secret US cables. 135 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 At the time, Tunisia was ruled by a dictator, President Ben Ali. 136 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Someone got the cable and they gave me a bunch of Arab leaks, around 300 cables. 137 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Sami Ben Gharbia called and he told me that I had the bomb. So I opened the file and I start tweeting. 138 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Inside the cables were damning reports written by the American ambassador about the dictator Ben Ali. 139 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They showed the extent of his regime's corruption and excess. 140 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Corruption in Tunisia is getting worse, whether it's cash, services, land, property, or, yes, even your yacht. 141 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 President Ben Ali's family is rumored to covet it and reportedly gets what it wants. 142 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This is Ben Ali's daughter, Nesrine, and her billionaire husband, Mohamed Sakhr El Materi. 143 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And this was one of their houses, a luxury villa on the Tunisian coast. 144 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This villa's obviously been smashed up by looters. 145 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This place inspired one of the most infamous cables to come out of Tunisia. 146 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The American ambassador was invited here for dinner, and what he found - the wealth, opulence astounding. 147 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Ancient artifacts everywhere. Roman columns, frescoes, and even a lion's head from which water pours into the pool. 148 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The opulence with which El Materi and Nesrine live make clear why they and other members of Ben Ali's family are disliked and even hated by some Tunisians. 149 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The excesses of the Ben Ali family are growing. 150 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This cage is very, very famous in Tunisia, and 151 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it's all because of the cables. 152 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This is where Ben Ali's son-in-law kept his pet tiger, 153 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and from the cables, we're told that at a time when there were people here in Tunisia who couldn't afford to eat, 154 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 this animal was fed four chickens a day. 155 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 At the time of the cable release, Tunisia was already suffering economic unrest. 156 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Food prices were rising, youth unemployment was at crisis point. 157 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The cables showed the contrast between the lives of ordinary people and their rulers. 158 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 For activists like Malek and Sami, the cable leak was an extraordinary opportunity. 159 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The Wikileaks cable was, for us, like a new tool or a new weapon to make this contest come down from the internet to the street. 160 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They published the Tunisian cables on the same day as the Wikileaks splash. 161 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was a very huge reaction. First of all, 162 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 on the social networks, Twitter, Facebook, and, you know, our community, 163 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it was like a bomb. 164 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, the secret American reports of the Ben Alis' excess were out there for ordinary Tunisians to read. 165 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It wasn't that Tunisia didn't know about the corruption. 166 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Most people here were well aware of how the elite lived. 167 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was now that they could see that the Americans knew. 168 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Ben Ali was a president who made an awful lot of his relationship with the United States. 169 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But the cables show that the Americans knew him for what he was. 170 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They were critical, and they were disparaging. 171 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When the people were in the street, 172 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they had in their mind 173 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that this regime is really corrupt, that this regime is not really supported by foreign forces, 174 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so that maybe people were saying, okay, maybe he's not too strong, 175 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 maybe he's not too invincible. 176 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Then senior ministers in Ben Ali's regime saw the cables were having an impact. 177 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When the people of Tunisia saw US criticism of the president, 178 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of the surrounding circle, et cetera, 179 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of course maybe they were not expecting this from the Americans. 180 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So what difference did that make? 181 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It did encourage people to speak in a more open and louder way. 182 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And this is, in my opinion, 183 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 there is no doubt. 184 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The regime tried to block the websites carrying the cables. 185 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They failed. 186 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The secret documents helped fuel a mood of change in Tunisia. 187 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We published them on November 28th, and the Revolution started on December 17th. 188 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was two weeks. Two weeks. 189 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [rioting and protesting] 190 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The Revolution began when a young Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, 191 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 set himself on fire in protest at his mistreatment by the regime. 192 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 His death provoked outrage and brought crowds to the streets. 193 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 As they vented their anger, the cables inspired many of their chants. 194 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [shouting, gunshots] 195 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You see, during the Revolution, some slogans talk about the content of these cables, 196 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 making reference to the very rich life that those people are living, and 197 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the role of the state, a lot of people were referring to these stories. 198 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Those protests would bring down a dictatorship that had lasted 23 years. 199 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Ben Ali fled the country. 200 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The Tunisian Revolution spread and prompted a wave of uprisings that became known as the Arab Spring. 201 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The cable leak had played a part in history. 202 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But what about America itself? 203 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 What do the cables reveal about the superpower? 204 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We've spent months analyzing these documents. 205 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They show how America's diplomats try to get what they want, 206 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 how they gather gossip and how they use it. 207 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 How they deal with their enemies, what they say about their friends, 208 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 when they think no one's listening. 209 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, what does America say about its closest friend of all - us? 210 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Two countries who fought alongside each other in Iraq and Afghanistan, 211 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but the cables reveal harsh US criticism of the British military. 212 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A secret document from December 2008 offered a bleak assessment of British capabilities. 213 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The British are not up to the task of securing Helmand. 214 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It forced Hillary Clinton to offer yet another apology. 215 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I personally want to convey to the government, 216 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and to the people of the United Kingdom, 217 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 both our deep respect and admiration, or 218 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the extraordinary efforts, and I regret 219 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 if anything that was said by anyone suggests to the contrary. 220 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But the secret documents show the Americans were hearing concerns about our political leaders. 221 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In February 2010, the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, 222 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and the US ambassador in London discussed the then-Conservative opposition. 223 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This is the cable that followed: 224 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 King expressed great concern about Conservative leaders' lack of experience. 225 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Cameron and Osborne have only a few advisors, 226 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and seemed resistant to reaching out beyond their small inner circle. 227 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It is the duty of a diplomat to report those conversations, 228 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so people can take that into account, 229 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so they know what's going on. 230 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And gossip is not gossip if it's conversations that are had. 231 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Gossip" is speculation. There is no speculation. 232 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But some cables are not so easy to explain away. 233 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In 2009, Ivan Lewis was a foreign office minister in Tony Blair's government. 234 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 He got to know the Americans during this time, 235 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and they tried to get to know him. 236 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 No detail or rumor was too []. 237 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Lewis reportedly remains a bit of a hound dog where women are concerned. 238 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Contacts who know him well report he has manic-depressive tendencies. 239 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "He's very up one minute, very down the next. 240 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And at least one Foreign and Commonwealth Office colleague has described Lewis as a bully." 241 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 US diplomats may claim to be simply reporting what they hear, 242 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but it seems from the cables that no detail is too trivial. 243 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Biographic data is something that is valuable. 244 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Building and understanding of the personalities, proclivities, 245 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 what might be distracting to individuals, 246 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 what might explain the behavior of third parties toward that individual. 247 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Finding out that somebody has a reputation, a bad reputation, 248 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 with women, once might have been an advantage, 249 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but these days, generally isn't. 250 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So why, then, did Hillary Clinton send this to London one month after the cable about Lewis was written? 251 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Washington analysts appreciate the excellent background and biographic reporting on Ivan Lewis. 252 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [Cable] regarding Lewis's bullying, possible depression, and scandals, 253 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 as well as comments on the state of his marriage 254 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 are particularly insightful and timely." 255 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We contacted Mr. Lewis, but he didn't want to comment. 256 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 As for America's diplomats, well, the cable speaks for itself. 257 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Dirt and gossip even on America's closest friends goes down very well in Washington. 258 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Gossip can reveal information about people 259 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that shows their strengths and weaknesses, 260 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 just like politicians use it, it doesn't mean that you believe everything, 261 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but information is information.