Julian Assange ignored an 11th-hour plea from the State Department to withhold publication. | AP Photo Close
By GLENN THRUSH & GORDON LUBOLD & LAURA ROZEN | 11/28/10 2:15 PM EST
WikiLeaks has dropped its bombshell cache of U.S. diplomatic cables, ripping the cloak off scores of secret deals and duds, including clandestine North Korean support for Iran and the Bush administration’s failed attempt to remove nuclear material from Pakistan.
The release — more than a quarter-million back-channel cables that include brutally candid assessments of world leaders and previously undisclosed details of nuclear and antiterrorism activity — represents the most embarrassing and potentially damaging disclosure of American diplomatic material in decades.