WikiLeaks collates Kissinger files from '70s to make them searchable
Whistle-blowing website collates diplomatic files from the '70s to show scope of US' global reach
Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has published more than 1.7 million United States diplomatic and intelligence documents from the 1970s.
The data released yesterday were records from the start of 1973 to the end of 1976, covering a variety of diplomatic traffic including cables, intelligence reports as well as congressional correspondence.
Henry Kissinger was US secretary of state and national security adviser during the period covered by the collection, and many of the reports were written by him, or were sent to him.
The new records have not been leaked and are available to view at the US national archives.
The website has collated a variety of records including cables, intelligence reports and congressional correspondence and is releasing them in a searchable form. Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' head, said the documents were illustrative of the "vast range and scope" of global US influence.
In a document, Kissinger as quoted as saying: "Before the Freedom of Information Act, I used to say at meetings, 'The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer'," during a 1975 conversation which included a Turkish and Cypriot official.