20 Most Explosive Revelations and Scandals Exposed by WikiLeaks in 2016

Commonly termed as the “whistle-blowing website”, WikiLeaks has managed to build a reputation for itself in a short span of 10 years. Living in an era where information is valued above all, WikiLeaks works towards unveiling the hidden documents, correspondences and actions that usually never reach the population because many governments and influential people around the world have managed to keep this information hidden for many years. Currently, the site works as an open platform to the world whereby anyone can contribute with any valuable information in the form of reports and leaks. The best part about the site is complete anonymity which ensures privacy to every one of the contributors.

While to this date, the site has managed to leak a lot of important information which was so far very stealthily hidden from the world, there have been a number of explosive revelations and scandals that have left people genuinely shocked.

20 Most Explosive Revelations and Scandals Exposed:

  1. The Iraq Apache Helicopter Attack:

In April 2010, WikiLeaks managed to post a video that showed the killing of two journalists and a couple of Iraqi civilians at the hands of a US military helicopter which opened fire because it allegedly believed the targets to be armed insurgents. The video was captured by the helicopter’s gun camera and has audio in the background of soldiers cursing and having fun while firing multiple shots at the victims.

  1. Guantanamo Bay unleashed:

In 2007 when the procedure manuals for Camp Delta got released onto the WikiLeaks website, the world got to see for the first time the atrocities that take place at the detention center at the hands of US soldiers. Human rights groups around the world were shocked to learn of the activities that took place at the Guantanamo Bay such as denying prisoners’ access to Red Cross up to 4 weeks starting their detention period. Moreover, items of basic needs like toilet paper were used as awards that the prisoners could earn after showing good behavior.

  1. Is Hilary protecting Convicted child traffickers?

WikiLeaks managed to uncover the atrocities taking place behind the scenes of the presidential campaign nominees. It was revealed that Hilary Clinton has been using her influence to cover the dirty work of many corporations that have been convicted of child trafficking only because they have been funding her campaign. For example, DynCorp’s parent company donated over $40,000 to Clinton’s campaign even though it has been convicted for having hired a 15-year-old stripper in Afghanistan to dance. When an article on the incident was forwarded to Clinton, she worked hard to make sure all mention of the boy was removed from it. Other revelation on the account also notifies Clinton aiding Laura Silsby; a woman caught for abducting almost 33 children from Haiti.

  1. The Scientology Scam:

In 2008, the collected secret bibles of the religious group known as Scientology were published on the WikiLeaks website which not only contained some of their strange practices but also had details of their internal workings. Although the lawyers of the Church of Scientology tried to get WikiLeaks to take down the information, the website refused.

  1. Hilary, had Vince Foster killed?

According to an email from a Stratfor employee that leaked on the WikiLeaks website, Hilary Clinton was responsible for the murder of Vince Foster. Stratfor is a global intelligence company which serves many powerful corporations as well as the US federal government. Although Vince Foster’s death in 1993 was officially labeled as a suicide, the email highlighted otherwise and implicated Hilary Clinton for having been involved in his murder. New information released by FBI shows that the bullets found at the crime scene did not match those from Foster’s gun hence concluding that his death was not a suicide.

  1. Emails by the Climate Research Unit:

The East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit came under scrutiny when almost 1000 emails spanned across 10 years were released on the WikiLeaks website. These emails showed the “tricks” scientists at the research center employed to boost arguments regarding the authenticity of global warming being a man-made phenomenon. After the leak, the head of the CRU division stepped down from his position. This scandal has been termed as “the worst scientific scandal of this generation.”

  1. Diplomats as spies?

In 2009 it was found that Hilary Clinton had ordered diplomats overseas to gather intelligence and information on foreign officials that included frequent flier numbers and biometric information. Although it is quite embarrassing for the US government, it doesn’t really come as a shock to foreign policy gurus. WikiLeaks managed to bring to light the blurred lines between the role of a diplomat and that of a spy.

  1. The Australian Internet Blacklist:

In 2009, WikiLeaks managed to get their hands on the Internet blacklist; a list of websites the Australian Government had previously banned as it deemed them unfit for viewership by the Australian internet users. Despite clear warnings from Bjorn LandFeldt, a University of Sydney professor who was also involved in putting together the list, the site published the list which mostly included some Wikipedia pages, YouTube videos among others and did not contain anything related to child pornography which was one of the components pointed out when the blocks were initially made.

  1. The underworld’s relationship to Bollywood:

The Indian division of WikiLeaks managed to unearth the connection between Bollywood and underworld which mostly contained Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel and Chhota Rajan. Although no names were specifically mentioned, the leak clearly described how in the early days the industry depended on the money coming from the underworld for covering costs in Bollywood. This was the time when Bollywood was not considered as a legitimate industry by the Indian government and gangsters and politicians invested in the production of movies as a means of hiding their black money.

  1. Trafigura’s Minton Report:

When an oil trading company known as Trafigura tried to block the publication of an internal study on the health effects of dumping waste in Africa in 2009, the internet went berserk. The guardian and WikiLeaks both got their hands on the draft report at the same time, but while Trafigura took the Guardian to court, WikiLeaks published the report online via twitter.

  1. Saudis involvement in the bombing of Iraq:

WikiLeaks managed to intercept countless documents from influential people in Saudi Arabia, urging the US government to bomb Iraq in order to stop its nuclear program from furthering. The cable published shows King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia urging the USA to cut the “head of the snake.” A further write up was done by the Guardian on the story as well.

  1. “Secret War in Yemen”:

Over time, the Obama government has said to have secretly launched missile attacks on Yemen in order to eliminate suspected terrorists, however, as a cover up, the Yemeni government has been taking the blame for it time and again. However, the lying was uncovered when WikiLeaks managed to intercept a cable between the Yemeni President and Gen. David Petraeus. These missile attacks have managed to kill countless of innocent civilians and some suspected terrorists as well.

  1. Hilary’s discretion over classified material:

It was revealed that the secretary of state regularly asked her maid and butler to print classified documents for which they had zero security clearance. These printing sprees took place at her DC household and included classified email correspondences among other documents.

  1. Sarah Palin’s Email Account Hacked:

Before the 2008 US Presidential Election, Sarah Palin’s personal Yahoo account got hacked by a group that calls themselves the Anonymous. Other than some private family pictures, the emails published showed that Mrs. Palin had been using a private account for official business in order for it to avoid reaching public records.

  1. Iran Attack:

The cable leaked between Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and his French counterpart clearly highlighted that a conventional strike by any nation would significantly delay the Iranian plans at least by 3 years.

  1. The 9/11 Pager data:

In 2009, more than 500,000 pager messages exchanged on 9/11 were published by WikiLeaks. While some were from civilians, others were from Federal and local officials. This information was said to help unveil the real picture what really happened on the day.

  1. Mayawati’s “flying” Tantrums:

A cable released by WikiLeaks highlighted the US embassy calling the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (2007-12) and “egomaniac” along with her absurd whims like ordering an empty jet pane to make a round trip to Mumbai to pick up her preferred shoes.

  1. Name calling?

Many cables have highlighted US diplomats describing foreign leaders in undiplomatic terms. These cables were released by WikiLeaks and include statements whereby discriminatory comparison has been done.  For example called Putin an “alpha dog”.

  1. Empty threats by Israel?

Although Israel has been extremely vocal about launching airstrikes against Iran to hinder its nuclear program, a cable in 2009 between Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his Russian colleague highlighted that Israel was not considering such an attack.

  1. Stopping leaks

One of the most scandalous leaks of all times was when the British military Manual- the Defense Manual of Security was leaked onto the WikiLeaks website. This manual describes how best to avoid leaks which make this document an extremely interesting read.