Turns out in one of the leaked documents that were released by Wikileaks they talk about bloggers in Kuwait. This is from back in 2005 when we were only a few blogs but even if the information is outdated it still gives an interesting glimpse to how we were viewed. Nibaq from the now defunct KuwaitBlogs.com gets a mention as well.
The freaky thing is the fact that the US Government was spying on the bloggers. According to the leak, someone from the embassy attended a bloggers meet up to get more details on who the bloggers were. Makes you wonder if any other government spied on us as well or if the US government spied on us again after that meeting.
Check out the full document [Here]
via Kuwaitiful
Update: According to Talal (who was mentioned in the wiki), the officer from the US Embassy actually identified himself as being from the Embassy and also told them he was trying to get some information for the Cultural Affairs. So that’s not spying.
42 replies on “Kuwaiti Blogs in Wikileaks”
The question is how many twitter “agents” are there ?
In light of the ‘Arab Spring’ it is understandable that people should not fear their government, governments should fear their people. If governments worked for the people and performed their role in society, they would not have to be threatened by the words of bloggers especially when they call themselves a democracy which ensures freedom of speech.
From all these cables, we can see that the US government is trying to find weak points in the delicate fabric of every other government and also the means to exploit it. Big brother is constantly on the watch. This is no fairy tale people. It’s the real deal.
Or maybe they’re just trying to understand the country they’re trying to deal with.
Would you go on a road trip without planning it?! If you’d bother planning a simple trip and studying ur route, i don’t think its too much for a country to study who its going to deal with!!!
Of course they’re trying to understand Kuwait. Kuwait is a strong ally of the west and it cannot be denied. But should there be an unexpected change in government (considering Iran is a very close country) and I’m not saying that it would happen, the US would have adequate intel and means inorder to severely cripple the enemy.
The US doesn’t need to fraternize with other nations. As long as their interests in the Middle East are well preserved and insured, they won’t worry about anything.
Americans know so much about Kuwait and Kuwaitis because they are not ‘spying’ on us.. they are socializing with us. Socializing is best way to know country, its people, and they’re deepest issues. And they are doing it very well.
Look at Dewaniyas and every single kind of gathering or event.. Americans are always there getting very social and making friends.
I’m not into politics and I’m a very simple 28 years old person from a very simple family yet I’ve met the current US ambassador at least couple of times. I know that the previous ambassadors used to come to our dewaniya frequently.
All the information ‘leaked’ on wiki leaks regarding Kuwait are not even considered secrets in Kuwait.
The definition of spying is:
a person employed by a government to obtain secret information or intelligence about another
Yes, and you used the term “spying on bloggers”.. How can it be spying if they are not obtaining a secret information? They attended an open social gathering that was open to the public and has been publicly promoted. The outcome of their attendance -as we can read from the leaked document- also is nothing of secret nature and does not fall in the ‘national security’ side.
Spying isn’t only about getting secrets, it’s also about gaining intelligence which is what the leak says they did
are you a spy ?
@3azeez… Let Rupert Murdoch tap your private phonecalls and broadcast them to the public, then tell me its socializing and not spying.
If you weren’t selfish and, instead, you were thinking of the breach of privacy to these poor bloggers, you wouldn’t be saying what you just did.
“breach of privacy” of “poor bloggers”?! What are you talking about?!
Did they gain illegal access to bloggers emails? Did they hack into private blog page? Did they bug private bloggers meeting?
I fail to understand what you’re saying Mr. Pink!
I couldn’t stop laughing for about 5 minutes after I read your comment Mr. Pink… Bloggers for the most part talk about their lives on a site that in most cases can have hundreds if not thousands of readers, they willingly put information about their daily lives. Unless their private e-mails were hacked, phones bugged or had someone following their every move 24/7 I think we can safely assume they are ok..
@ 3azeez..
The way it was worded was quite incriminating (hacking systems… Associating our religion with terrorism ideation).
That’s all the evidence that the Americans need to send someone to Guantanamo bay, and you’re saying we should let it happen.
I think you forget to type in the word “minded” before “28 years…” in ur orginal post.
@edgar… bloggers share what THEY want to share…. just cuz they write about their own life on blogs that doesn’t mean they should be complete stripped off their privacy.
With that wikileaks document, they are portrayed in a negative way in some instances as if they were, for the time being, not a threat to America just yet.
But I don’t expect an eejit like you to be able to read between the lines and figure out its true intent.
Ah the bubble in which you live in. One day you will realize the sham of it all. 😀
This is slightly unsettling.
this just shows that you shoulnt say everything on the internet. Im just suprised from some of the people that comment here what kind political experience do you have to say the things your saying. Democracy or part of it is being open minded, i ont see anyone being open minded
The US cables aren’t ‘democratic’ either.
Have you read the entire cable?
You don’t understand the situation do you?
The cables go as far as to describe bloggers as ‘Technologically capable’ and mentioning the hacking abilities, activities, future aspects of quite a few bloggers. This hints the possibility of knowing the personal details of every blogger.
Why are these cables classified as sensitive and ‘Not for internet distribution’ ?
i dont understand how your reply asnwers my comment, i understand the cables i didnt even comment about them i was commenting about the poeple who write here 7abeeby so before answering you should learn to understand whats being written
Definition if Spy : One who secretly keeps watch on another or others.
Did he tell the bloggers at the meeting who he really was?? If not then he is a spy.
The intent however is debatable.
Or your just a nut job that has no proof to back up were being spied on. Go back to your basement you nerd.
Your proof is given in perfect detail in the classified US cables. Have you not clicked the relevant URL?
Nah, it’s just much more important for him to rely on tired “insults” about basements. Why ignore someone when their views aren’t hurting you when you can be rude instead?
Back in 2004/2005, most bloggers were techies. Today, its a different, broader gathering. The resources are readily available and the number of blogs/users increase daily.
Its hardly surprising that the Americans are keeping a close watch on the world’s oil supply. Do they want to know if there is dissent in this society ? You bet. They want to know who the players are, what their ideology, likes dislikes , the whole nine yards. This data can be used to pressure governments and the like. If you’re upset that you’re being spieD on — Don’t be. Also, aren’t you aware that your calls/net use is being monitored by ECHELON
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echelon_%28signals_intelligence%29
we dont need echelon, blogger meetings ,etc to spy on us!. we have facebook which tells the world of everything we do 🙁
i bet the gov is spying on us!!
Conspiracy Theory nut jobs, get ahold of reality and stop cowering in your basements thinking the world is gonna end in 2012.
Don’t misguide people. The World is gonna end in 2012. Didn’t you watch the 2012 movie 🙂
The end of the world was also supposed to be in 2000, and earlier this year according to that religious nut job in the US..
Blogging now is all about restaurant reviews. Disappointing.
BFD. I have known that the US Embassy in Kuwait has monitored Kuwaiti blogs (including my own) for years. I’m glad they do because they have their finger on the pulse of life in Kuwait. Through blogs, anyone is able to check out what is really happening in a country. I have never considered it “spying”. If I choose to post it on the internet, anyone is able to read it. I am glad I’ve got a varied readership (since 2004) and I’m happy that includes the US government.
It’s obvious that the Kuwaiti government is reading our blogs, so why not other governments. Welcome to blogsphere.
I’m sure that reading this report out of context, next to a picture of Hacktivist Julian Assange does not do any of us any favors. But as someone who was mentioned by name in these wires, I would like to make it clear that these people were open about their identities and the purpose of their participation. Nothing about our meetings was secretive, and none of what they did was in hiding. We have always indiscriminately invited whoever wanted to join us to do so. There were many non-bloggers in a lot of these meetings, and we occasionally get your average unreliable arab journalist guest.
That report is weak in terms of providing any ‘intelligence’ compared to what was openly available on our own blogs. It does, however, provide a clear ‘big image’ on the blogging scene in Kuwait back then. It’s disappointing that no one noticed the positive light it shed on the Kuwaiti blogosphere at the time. I feel it’s important for everyone to go and re-read the title of that report.
American Embassies all over the globe write reports on various issues, from social and economical development, to human rights reports that we here have made an annual event out of denying their claims without reading said reports. A lot of these reports are available for public, some of those discuss topics as specific as bloggers in the middle-east.
I have maintained a close friendship with one embassy staff member, he himself was an active blogger at the time. He have told me that it was part of their job to write reports on every activity they participate in on behalf of the embassy. From the ambassador’s visits to Kuwaiti Diwaniyas, to these bloggers meetings.
If you have looked at some of Kuwait’s recent cultural events (probably mentioned on this very same blog) you will notice that a big number of those was organized by the American Embassy in Kuwait. A lot of these events are free of charge, and they rarely carry any political overtones of any sort. They see it as an extended hand to form tighter relations with the people of the country, but some of us unfortunately see it as a propagandist pollution to our ever so ‘clean’ minds.
I apologize for my incoherent ramblings, but it’s 3 AM and I just had a heavy Suhoor.
lol i guess they don’t have a life ;p
rats my cover is blown
As one of the earliest (and now retired) Kuwaiti bloggers, I second Talal Obeid… Everything we posted was put out there for the public – and the whole world – to read and interpret in their own way and for their own purposes. You can’t post stuff and attend “blogger’s meetings” and expect total secrecy and respect for your privacy. You want privacy? Guard your identity and don’t go to meetings, or better yet don’t blog!
Every embassy around the world (at least those from advanced countries) write reports about events and developments in their host countries. It’s what they’re supposed to do and it’s an integral part of their jobs. Just because some staff at our Kuwaiti and Arab embassies are asleep at the wheel and not filing reports, doesn’t mean we can hold the world to our low standards.
Also, you don’t need to attend bloggers’ meetings to form an impression about what’s going on in the Kuwaiti blogosphere. All you need is an RSS reader!
And to quote Talal again.. “That report is weak in terms of providing any ‘intelligence’ compared to what was openly available on our own blogs. It does, however, provide a clear ‘big image’ on the blogging scene in Kuwait back then. It’s disappointing that no one noticed the positive light it shed on the Kuwaiti blogosphere at the time”
Back in 2005, blogging was a big deal in Kuwait and I remember those golden days with extremely fond memories. But I was never under any illusion that the world was not watching. I just didn’t think the world cared.
Of course, conspiracy buffs are having a field day with this story because of Julian Assange’s ongoing Wikileaks saga. All I can say is while Assange revealed some explosive information that needed to be made public, the majority of his leaked documents are simply boring routine diplomatic activities… and that’s exactly what this story is!
Guys I just updated the post. They weren’t spying since the US Embassy officer told the bloggers he was from the Embassy and that he was there collecting information. That’s according to a blogger (Talal) who was at the meetup.
lol, too late for that now bud. Almost everyone now thinks that the US Embassy spies on bloggers.
And I just want to correct something I wrote earlier:
The world did, in fact, care about the Kuwaiti blogosphere because it smashed the long-held image of oppressed and heavily censored Arab voices. For the Arab world – at the time! – Kuwaiti blogs were a breath of fresh air with people expressing themselves relatively freely and writing things other Arabs could only write under strict secrecy for fear of being arrested.
I could go on, but you all know the story by now 🙂
At an after-dinner party, around 7 bottles of wine consumed. Cigars going around.
American ambassador (AA): “I read this post today about this woman who say women need sex slaves or something like that”
Embassy staff 1 (ES1): “Oh yeah, did you see that? Tell you what chief, id gladly be a sex slave for a day!”’
Embassy staff 2 (ES2): “damn right !”
AA: “im already a sex slave !”
Everyone: “LOL”
ES2: “How about that weird Kuwait artist? With the weird music, you know – she was in a newspaper or something – did you guys check out that post?”
ES1: “Terrible music – and the commenter’s really went in on her- I mean you don’t like it don’t listen, but to put her down like that – geeeez!”
AA: “I don’t know, I liked the music – different”
ES1: “it was ok, nothing like Garth Brooks, but you know”
AA: “What about those nincampoos at Benihana !? – can you believe the cheek, appealing and now he has to pay KD 1,000”
ES2: “That’s one expensive plate of Udon stir fry I tell you – the cheek of them. They should just drop the thing and grow up”
ES1: “I don’t even know why they are on their high horses, their food does really stink.”
AA: “I’ll tell you what, – get that manager, that Mike Sevos, or Servino – whatever the goddamn name is, I’ll tell him what I think of his crappy food – I’ll show him sex slave that racist plump, going in on the Lebanese like that”
ES1: “Speaking of Lebanese sir, – we have an early brief tomorrow morning with the Lebanese Ambassador about that thing.”
AA: “Gotdamnit !! – I was just enjoying this night !! – alright y’all im heading to bed”
ES1 & ES2 :”Sir, can we take those 5 bottles of wine there”
AA: “Go ahead”
ES1 to ES2” “Nice, I got this guy who will but one bottle of wine for 50 KD – high five there buddy !!”
“we”? mark goddammit you’re not kuwaiti.
what does “we” have to do with being a Kuwaiti. I meant as “we” bloggers.
Every embassy in the world spies on people. What do you think all that staff is doing, visas?