HONG KONG — Breakfast tea or coffee has suddenly become more interesting with the flood of tittle-tattle, gossip and serious political reporting pouring out via WikiLeaks. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the American right fulminate and wish to charge WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange with espionage or even to label him a "terrorist" along with Osama bin Laden and other warmongers.
It may be embarrassing to the victims and to the American diplomatic effort to see in print some robust opinions of world leaders; but on the local streets, you'll hear worse said about their leaders and their failings. We could run a Christmas competition asking which of the insults come from WikiLeaks and which are heard on the street, and which person matches the descriptions.
However, concerning the revelations about three of the hottest spots in the world — the crucible of civilization in the Middle East, the tinderbox of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the powder keg of north Asia, particularly North Korea — there is real reason to be worried about unpredictable consequences from the WikiLeaks' leaks.