THE BORDER REPORT

The Mexican press is eagerly awaiting news from Wikileaks dissemination of U.S. government dispatches about the drug war. Speaking candidly about his expectations, Javier Moreno, publisher of Spain's El País newspaper, said 2,285 dispatches about Mexico will be included in the Wikileaks file dump, a number that gives me some hope. From the Wikileaks site, their appear to be 2,836 cables to be published. But my expectations are not high; El Imparcial in Hermosillo notes this morning that those 2,285 of the messages (e-mails, presumably), originated in Mexico City, 159 out of Monterrey, 78 from Nogales, 32 from Guadalajara, 27 from Tijuana, 19 from Hermosillo, 19 from Ciudad Juárez, 7 from Matamoros, 5 from Nuevo Laredo and three out of Mérida. State Department messages are notoriously classified; in fact, of all the federal agencies, I consider State to be the most top-heavy when it comes to over-classifying messages. It's why I'll occasionally receive "Law Enforcement Sensitive" memos from DEA, FBI, Border Patrol or ICE, but  almost never from State. Much of the time, State dispatches aren't even obtainable under the Freedom of Information Act. The irony here of course is that while criminal organizations targeted by law enforcement may gain access to information from those LE Sensitive documents, a State Dept. leak may spark an international incident or an outrage by some slighted foreign diplomat and that appears to be a deeper concern for the U.S. government. Then, too, there is the question of quality of information. Some time ago, an old friend used to pass me the State Department's Morning Report. It's one of the most frightening concepts I've ever read. Basically, foreign attachés working in different countries re-write a consortium of newspaper articles into English. I'm talking: "Balacera en Monterrey Deja 3 Muertos" becomes "3 Dead after a Shootout in Monterrey." It was disconcerting to read specifically because it was such a basic, out-dated system with which to gather information. The Morning Report might have made sense in the days pre-Internet, but it's been irrelevant for at least five years. And guess what? Those are classified. Then, too, there is the matter of what's being written. Any agent, case worker or diplomat I've ever met who has something good to share simply doesn't write it down. They know as well as I do that putting details in writing creates a paper trail accessible – some day – by FOIA. I could be wrong, of course. The Wikileaks file dump could have a 1997 memo written by the U.S. Consul General in Hermosillo detailing Amado Carrillo's faked death and details about his becoming a snitch for the Feds. One could hope.