Some people are annoyed and even furious by each successive wave of cables released by WikiLeaks.  Writing in the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer even suggested that founder Julian Assange deserved to be assassinated by a poison dart, a la Georgi Markov.

Putting aside all the serious legal issues and the need for confidentiality in conducting statecraft, I am personally finding the cables tremendously entertaining – and so are the world’s newspapers, by the way, whose mock disapproval is contradicted by the popularity of their exclusive first looks.

While it is true that much of what is being revealed is generally public knowledge to those who follow these countries closely, it has been edifying to see some verification and back up with regard to a number of issues we have been warning about here on this blog for the past several years.  However, it’s also very surprising to me how so many reporters have missed the big story revealed with regard to Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi’s energy dealings with Gazpromneft, and what this shows us about both states’ handling of unlawfully expropriated property.