Abstract

The recent release of the journalist and activist Julian Assange (28 June 2024) brought to an end a complicated and paradoxical legal affair that had been going on for twelve years, since the soldier Bradley Manning illegally leaked around 250,000 cables in the possession of the US military, later published on the wikileaks website. The 3,000 documents released by the American embassy in Rome offer a revealing insight into Italian-American relations in the “age of terrorµ that began with the attacks of 11 September 2001. 2002 was a crucial year: as the war against the Taliban regime in Kabul came to an end, NATO and EU enlargement were being prepared, as was military intervention in Iraq. The US embassy cables, free of the diplomatic language of official speeches, clearly show how members of the government were persuaded and how Italian public opinion was manipulated.