The danger in WikiLeaks' dump of reams of super-sensitive cables from Washington's worldwide listening posts is not merely that the game has been revealed but how it might play out in future.

This is the third such dump by the organisation. The first two - on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - were relatively harmless.

The files dumped so far this week are very dangerous. But this is not because, as Washington insisted, they would put people's lives in danger.

The Obama administration has been a bit holier than thou with its claim that "such disclosures put at risk . . . people around the world who come to the US for assistance in promoting democracy''.

Who might these great defenders of democracy be - the tinpot autocrats of the Middle East, perhaps? Coming out of this huge diplomatic data-dump with good reason to look foolish are the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf statelets.