LONDON — There is not much in the latest batch of Wikileaks that should come as a surprise to most well-informed people. It is surely common knowledge that the present Russian government has close connections with Mafia-style criminals. No one could have been surprised by reports of the concerns of Arab states about the threat from Iran.
The statement that some Chinese officials are fed up with the North Koreans and would welcome unification of the Korean Peninsula suggests that some Chinese recognize reality. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's tantrums, meanwhile, have been widely reported.
So does Wikileaks' publication of masses of secret and confidential reports from U.S. missions abroad really matter?