Wikileaks Leaks a Big One; 90,000 Afghanistan War Documents
The Pentagon has a busy couple of weeks ahead of it, at least the scores of interns paging through the 91,000 leaked U.S. Military documents concerning the war in Afghanistan will. The documents, recently released by WikiLeaks, the organization that makes a name for themselves by publicly leaking and promoting information to fight the evils of government and corporate corruption, contain mildly sensitive data pertaining to the war effort.
Most of the documents so far have been labeled as "secret" and not "top secret" or "super ultra mega double dog dare secret." This might not set the conspiracy theorists or government insiders at ease, but it's better than actual Military secrets. Which at this point it would seem that releasing even documents as sensitive as those wouldn't cross the ethics of Wikileaks.
Dating back to 2004, prior to the Obama administration, the documents represent “the kind of reporting that goes on at the tactical level on a routine basis,” according to Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan.
Both the U.S. and Pakistan have generally dismissed the leaked reports as low level reporting, even though some of the reports suggest that Pakistan is secretly helping the Taliban. There is no clear "smoking gun" to concretely prove this, nor anything else. The reports also implied a greater civilian death toll, as well as suggesting the Taliban are armed with Heat Seeking missiles, something the Military has not disclosed or discussed.
These reports, primarily written by Sergeants, are akin to a reporter taking notes at an entertainment convention, say, Comic-Con. Sometimes it's the truth, sometimes it's opinion. Who is to say? The documents did outline some information about secret commando units going after top insurgent leaders as well as minor plot points about CIA paramilitary operations inside Afghanistan. Well, that stuff isn't secret anymore now is it?
That's where the line should be drawn, and why Wikileaks director Julian Assange is afraid to re-enter the United States. He's afraid he'll be arrested for breaching National Security, which at this point seems like the case. It's one thing to be a hardcore investigative journalist and expose the truth, but not when doing so puts even more lives at risk.
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