The United States announced today that it will host next year's UNESCO World Press Freedom Day event in Washington from May 1-3. The press release says:

The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. 

At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. 

The highlight of the event will be the awarding of the World Press Freedom Prize, "determined by an independent jury of international journalists, [to honour] a person, organisation or institution that has notably contributed to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom, especially where risks have been undertaken."

I can think of one very obvious nominee for this award, and I'm sure readers can too.

The Wikileaks affair – or rather, the Obama administration's 
reaction to it – has left the US strategy of promoting free expression in the darker corners of the world in tatters. 

You can't promote freedom and good governance unless you practise what you preach. You can't discourage torturers while maintaining prisons like Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. You can't promote democracy while supporting dictators who happen to be well-disposed towards the United States. And you can't complain about regimes censoring the internet while attacking Wikileaks.

The American response to the disclosure of its embassy cables is a political disaster. Now, every tyrant in the world has a ready-made excuse for suppressing free speech – handed to him on a plate.