A long list of key facilities around the world that the US describes as vital to its national security has been released by Wikileaks

releated: WikiLeaks Reveals U.S. List of Strategic Sites





December 6, 2010
BBC

In February 2009 the State Department asked all US missions abroad to list all installations whose loss could critically affect US national security.

Image: Ningbo port in south-eastern China, one of the facilities on the US list

The list includes pipelines, communication and transport hubs.

Several UK sites are listed, including cable locations, satellite sites and BAE Systems plants.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says this is probably the most controversial document yet from the Wikileaks organisation.

The definition of US national security revealed by the cable is broad and all embracing, he says.

There are obvious pieces of strategic infrastructure like communications hubs, gas pipelines and so on. However, other facilities on the list include:


Cobalt mine in Congo


Anti-snake venom factory in Australia


Insulin plant in Denmark

In Britain, the list ranges from Cornwall to Scotland, including key satellite communications sites and the places where trans-Atlantic cables make landfall.

What the list might do is to prompt potential attackers to look at a broader range of targets”

A number of BAE Systems plants involved in joint weapons programmes with the Americans are listed, along with a marine engineering firm in Edinburgh which is said to be "critical" for nuclear powered submarines.

In other cables released by Wikileaks on Sunday:


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