<p>"Diplomatic cables are not policy. They are meant to inform. They are not always accurate. They are passing on information for whatever it's worth," Clinton told BBC.<br />"I think everyone knows that if we cannot speak openly and candidly with one another, we cannot understand each other and we cannot make policy that will benefit each other. I have found in my many conversations in the last week that there is certainly an understanding of what diplomacy means," she said.<br /><br />When pointed out that revelations were embarrassing for some leaders, Clinton said: "Well, of course, it's not their (diplomats') words. It's what somebody said about them. And oftentimes it's not secondhand; it's third and fourth-hand."<br /><br />"I have personally expressed my regret to individual leaders as well as publicly to anyone who has been offended or affected. But this is a tough business we're in, and it's a challenging world and most leaders get it. They may not appreciate it, because who wants to be – have something that some person somewhere said about you put in the public domain," Clinton said.<br /><br />"But they know that the United States -- the policy of this Administration is very clearly made in Washington by the President, by myself, by the rest of the high-level Administration officials. And that's who they exchange views with and cooperate with on an ongoing basis," she said.<br /><br />Clinton said the theft of the confidential information by a young private was done under the authority of the Defence Department, which had a legitimate reason for wanting more access to information.<br /><br />"But it wasn't handled appropriately. I think that is clear. I've called for a full investigation. As soon as we had any word that there was any leakage going on, we immediately stopped participating," she said.<br /><br />"The Defence Department has made significant changes so that this can never happen again. But we're rethinking how we share information. It's kind of a constant balancing act. On the one hand, you want information to be in the hands of people who are literally fighting and dying for what we're seeking.<br /><br />"On other hand, you don't want it to get into the wrong hands. But I think we're going to have to ratchet back on who can have access to confidential information," Clinton said.</p>
<p>"Diplomatic cables are not policy. They are meant to inform. They are not always accurate. They are passing on information for whatever it's worth," Clinton told BBC.<br />"I think everyone knows that if we cannot speak openly and candidly with one another, we cannot understand each other and we cannot make policy that will benefit each other. I have found in my many conversations in the last week that there is certainly an understanding of what diplomacy means," she said.<br /><br />When pointed out that revelations were embarrassing for some leaders, Clinton said: "Well, of course, it's not their (diplomats') words. It's what somebody said about them. And oftentimes it's not secondhand; it's third and fourth-hand."<br /><br />"I have personally expressed my regret to individual leaders as well as publicly to anyone who has been offended or affected. But this is a tough business we're in, and it's a challenging world and most leaders get it. They may not appreciate it, because who wants to be – have something that some person somewhere said about you put in the public domain," Clinton said.<br /><br />"But they know that the United States -- the policy of this Administration is very clearly made in Washington by the President, by myself, by the rest of the high-level Administration officials. And that's who they exchange views with and cooperate with on an ongoing basis," she said.<br /><br />Clinton said the theft of the confidential information by a young private was done under the authority of the Defence Department, which had a legitimate reason for wanting more access to information.<br /><br />"But it wasn't handled appropriately. I think that is clear. I've called for a full investigation. As soon as we had any word that there was any leakage going on, we immediately stopped participating," she said.<br /><br />"The Defence Department has made significant changes so that this can never happen again. But we're rethinking how we share information. It's kind of a constant balancing act. On the one hand, you want information to be in the hands of people who are literally fighting and dying for what we're seeking.<br /><br />"On other hand, you don't want it to get into the wrong hands. But I think we're going to have to ratchet back on who can have access to confidential information," Clinton said.</p>