I honestly believe that the release of the United States diplomatic cables would not have caused such a big problem if it wasn't for one thing: censorship. With the US and many other countries trying to shut down WikiLeaks, it has brought the whole case to public attention. And nobody likes being lied to, especially by their government, which they "rely" on for almost everything. Governments brought this whole issue to attention, and it's caused even more problems.
Now there probably would have been consequences even without all of the media focused on WikiLeaks. But, in no way would it have reached the state that it's at now. It's not just governments that are angry at each other. It's the people, too. People are picking sides in a debate that can decide the future of the entire world. The sides are about tied currently though, making it worrisome to everybody. But, the opposers of WikiLeaks also have many government powers on their side, while supporters have the ordinary citizens with little power if people just act as individuals. It's not just about WikiLeaks though. It's about freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion. It's almost similar to some sort of debate that could possibly have occurred during the creation of the US Constitution. But on a much larger, and a potentially much more dangerous scale. If any sort of violence does break out, then the world could be doomed.
It's an argument for freedom. And at the moment, it's nothing more than an argument. Whether it remains this way can not be predicted. The future may lay with the future of Mr. Assange. And as much as I hate saying it, I don't know how much longer the future will be able to be with him, as he himself may not be here much longer if death threats keep coming in, and were actually acted upon.
