Posted on 07/25/2010 2:51:21 PM PDT by kristinn
Read reports on the files at:
Intro by Der Spiegel:
Close to 92,000 US documents have been uncovered that shed new light on the war in Afghanistan. In an unprecedented development, close to 92,000 classified documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan have been leaked. SPIEGEL, the New York Times and the Guardian have analyzed the raft of mostly classified documents. They expose the true scale of the Western military deployment -- and the problems beleaguering Germany's Bundeswehr in the Hindu Kush.
A total of 91,731 reports from United States military databanks relating to the war in Afghanistan are to be made publicly available on the Internet. Never before has it been possible to compare the reality on the battlefield in such a detailed manner with what the US Army propaganda machinery is propagating. WikiLeaks plans to post the documents, most of which are classified, on its website.
Britain's Guardian newspaper, the New York Times and SPIEGEL have all vetted the material and compared the data with independent reports. All three media have concluded that the documents are authentic and provide an unvarnished image of the war in Afghanistan -- from the perspective of the soldiers who are fighting it.
The reports, from troops engaged in the ongoing combat, were tersely summarized and quickly dispatched. For the most part, they originate from sergeants -- but some have been penned by the occasional lieutenant at a command post or ranking analysts with the military intelligence service.
In a statement to Der Spiegel, Obama National Security Council spokesman Ben Rhodes blamed President George W. Bush:
... It is important to note that the time period reflected in the documents is January 2004 to December 2009. The war in Afghanistan was under-resourced for many years. ... On Dec. 1, 2009, President Obama announced a new strategy and new resources for Afghanistan and Pakistan precisely because of the grave situation.
If the perp is white Holder will prosecute. Not very effectively, I’m sure, but still....
The Pentagon has suspect in the leaks:
There’s a WSJ article on Drudge stating that the Pentagon is checking Manning out. The link is above.
This is what Obama meant by transparency. As long as it doesn’t cost him and his cronies anything he does not care about our troops.
Do you ever wonder if some people have multiple screen names?
I’d wager on multiple screen names for several folks around here.
Why is I think the Bamster is actually your hero.
Amen to that!
Ahhh, so it’s true! Any moment we should have feedback from the other screen name. Kind of like DID disorder with one agenda.
cc: beandog, driftdiver
above
Thanks for the alert Lucy. Drudge has “secret but not top secret” and White House...”made no attempts to...” headlines.
“You disgust me. You can hang right next to the New York Times and the traitor releasing this information.”
What if someone you knew worked in the Obama administration and he told you of a Top Secret (classified) plot on Obama’s part to seize the guns of the American people, and you knew the government would begin the crackdown at midnight the next day. Would you (a) immediately call the FBI and tell them that your friend was a traitor and then quietly go about your business or would you (b) notify as many people as you could?
Hopefully and truthfully, you would answer “(b)” because you realize that sometimes the people need to know regardless of the government’s desire to keep something secret. It is something that has to be weighed in every case. It is not easy, but it is a duty of a free press to make that judgment from time to time. It is too important a decision to leave solely to the discretion of a government bureaucrat.
And how did releasing classified documents about the war in Afghanistan and soldiers personal encounters help us? What good did it bring to our troops? What good did it bring to you? Who exactly did this benefit and how so?
Indeed.
You can play “what ifs” all day long and you still are disgusting.
These traitors released military secrets during a war and you are supporting them. Secrets that will most likely get people killed. The only question is how many.
yeah amazing that I trust our generals and other military experts.
Lets see, the NYTs or General Petraeus, boy thats a tough one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.