The following is a letter I wrote that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald on December 3, 2010. The title it was given is, "WikiLeaks offers vital global revelations".

YURIHONJO, Japan — On Dec. 2, the Herald opined, "The big surprise is that there are so few surprises. That’s the general consensus about the WikiLeaks release of diplomatic documents, most of which offer frank views ... that already had been more cautiously expressed in public" ("DL gets the WikiLeaks treatment," editorial, Page A4). Has the Herald done its research on the subject? I think not, for the above claim simply is ridiculous. It’s easy to find dozens of important global issues revealed by the Cablegate leaks. Here are a few.

** The CIA tortured many people in the past decade — which should be a headline on its own. Regardless, in the leaks, we also find out that the Obama administration pressured Spain and Germany to ignore the CIA's actions. Now we know that both Bush and Obama feel torture is justified — a sad state of American human rights.

** The leaks show that the U.S. has been conducting drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. Many people suspected this, but now we know exactly where our military is fighting — something that Americans should have a right to know.

** The leaks show that Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice ordered our diplomats to spy on foreign leaders. The diplomats were ordered to collect biometric data, such as DNA and fingerprints, as well as credit card numbers and computer passwords of foreign leaders, including the secretary general of the United Nations. To turn our country's diplomats into poorly trained spies simply is disgraceful.

** The leaks show that Afghanistan's vice president carried $52 million to the United Arab Emirates last year. It's not clear why he had so much money — he stated no reason — but theft seems likely.

** The leaks show the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Jordan privately asking the U.S. to attack Iran while publicly saying the opposite. Such behavior makes the U.S. look bad, because Saudi and Jordanian citizens see the U.S. as the aggressor against Iran, when in fact their own leaders are in favor of an attack.

In short, the leaks reveal many important secrets about the way America and other countries have engaged in shady dealings over the past decade. As American citizens, we need to be informed about such things. When our government lies to us, we desperately need groups such as WikiLeaks to help us. If citizens don't have access to information, they cannot make good decisions. An informed public is a fundamental requirement for a stable democracy, and the Cablegate leaks are a big step in the right direction.

Douglas Perkins