But they didn't release the cables at first, they released an encrypted file. Then a journalist who didn't like wikileaks that had access to the file published

But they didn't release the cables at first, they released an encrypted file. Then a journalist who didn't like wikileaks that had access to the file published the password in a book. Since the files were then available to those with resources to know about they password, they felt it was reasonable to release them completely so people could see if they were mentioned in the documents which were at that point for all intents and purposes public.