11|02|18 ~The Italian magazine L'Espresso begun publishing hundreds of cables today obtained from Wikileaks. The cables detail dispatches to Washington from American diplomats in Rome. Although the Americans mince no words in their criticism about the current Prime Minister, they do confirm, on the other hand, the strength of the relationship between the United States and Italy. Indeed, in one of the published cables, the former American ambassador to Rome, Ronal Spogli, wrote in his last cable to the Obama Administration, "throughout the post-war period, in particular since the end of the Cold War, Italy has been a staunch, reliable, and serious partner to the U.S. on the international issues that matter most to us. When all is said and done, Italy has come through every time, providing substantive contributions to our shared tasks operationally and politically, although we have not always given the GOI the level of recognition offered to other important allies."

|CiaoAmerica.net|