This. Furthermore, anyone's private conversations can make anyone seem like a jerk. I know there's that nice little saying... 'if you have nothing nice to say, then don't say it'. But frankly that's bullshit. At the very best, there's stuff in here that will make perfect rational sense, but still cause outrage amongst other countries. For example, as a Canadian I can easily see some angry faces over any report that shown that our decision to not participate in Iraq was dismissed as 'irrelevant'.
It's like how Alice and Bob are discussing Joe's crappy documentation in private in the context of having to work around it, and then suddenly Eve broadcasts that conversation through the world. Now Joe is probably pissed off at Alice and Bob, and the rest of the world is laughing at Joe. Even though Alice and Bob really did have to have that conversation.
I don't think your metaphor fits. If I learned people really thought my documentation sucked, I'd fix it. As for countries, it's obviously not to be expected that North Korea's Great Leader or the Israelis and Palestinians will just "shut up and fix it", but I really don't think offering them monetary and weaponry bribes just to keep them at an "appropriate level of madness" is the kind of diplomacy I want our government to participate in, and any secrets that involve that ought to be revealed. Diplomacy is a complex issue and secrets leaking out can be damaging, but this is true about most government affairs.
Ok, the specific of my analogy isn't a perfect match, but you got the gist of it. And I agree, there possibility exists of material in this leak that reveals genuine problems. In fact, I'm nearly certain that it exists. And exposing that type of stuff is important.
But the problem is that when you release information like this, the media/public is bound to wind up getting upset over the wrong things. Not only does it divert attention from the real problems that may be revealed, but also harms the ability of the United States (and perhaps other nations) from using its full range of diplomatic options (among other things).
My friend is a paramedic and tells me all sorts of stories about how they pass time/deal with some of the crap they see. That involves some very very twisted humour. If you released transcripts of every paramedic conversation indiscriminately, then you'd be bound to reveal some evidence of real wrong doing (some patient being transferred improperly causing injury and then covering it up), but I feel (based on how our news is really just a spectacle show) that the majority of the public's anger/outrage would be aimed at the 'indecent and inconsiderate' comments uttered by the paramedics.
Once again, not a perfect analogy, but I think it captures the spirit of the problem.
It's like how Alice and Bob are discussing Joe's crappy documentation in private in the context of having to work around it, and then suddenly Eve broadcasts that conversation through the world. Now Joe is probably pissed off at Alice and Bob, and the rest of the world is laughing at Joe. Even though Alice and Bob really did have to have that conversation.