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.
This, in combination with the Lockerbie Murderer’s complacent release by the Wizzard of BOZ and his Court Jesters ought to seal the deal, but it won’t.
If Wikileaks and Der Speigel, NYT and others move forward with their publication, they MUST be prosecuted.
You, sir, NAILED IT! Right there with you!
Yea, right. The ruling class protects each other even from treason.
Reasons given were basically that they were more likely to be assigned to the really dangerous jobs like convoy escort. Interesting, as well, is the fact that news reports of US “deaths” in Afghanistan do not include these numbers - artificially making the war seem less bloody for our side, I suppose. The whole thing is probably done by design, but that's just my interpretation.
I've had the displeasure several times in recent months of talking on separate occasions with a mid-grade officer and two sergeants - all warrior-minded individuals with long records of combat action - who have returned from that theater in the past year and a half. They all told me basically the same story: Ridiculous rules of engagement and transparently poor command all the way to the top, endangering and costing US lives, and leading in each case to decisions to end their military careers prematurely.
I am not crazy about the spin the NYT and others are putting on this, but the facts need the light of day, and I'm glad for that.
If I was President, I would immediately classify everyone involved with doing this as enemy combatants and/or traitors and send out wet-workers to sanction (kill) them. Period.
Unconstitutional? Nope - that’s what would have happened during WWII...
Sorry, not “enemy combatants,” but “spies” per the Geneva Convention (not that anyone outside the conservative right care what that document actually says).
Yep, the leaker and then the publisher all need to be locked up at the very least. I have a feeling that this will be treated as importantly as illegal aliens though.
He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign. Sun Tzu
Obama’s too busy trying to shut down Fox News.
If Wikileaks were to be charged with treason, then the entire Obama Administration would have to be. Treason will just have to remain “acceptable behavior” with Obama leading by example.
The networks no longer announce brave soldier’s deaths.
However, leading tonight’s newscast, the Obama family has a new puppy...............
America, you have made a huge mistake.
They acted stupidy
It’s important to note that WikiLeaks has thousands of Hillary Clinton’s classified diplomatic cables as Secretary of State to various foreign governments...
...and that Wikileaks and the NY Times refuses to publish them because their release might harm Democrats.
But classified military documents? No problem. They’ll publish those.
They knew this was going to happen and did nothing about it. BO is complicit.
“There was a report that some 850k or more have top secret clearance in this country now. When it’s that overdone, leaks are going to happen”
850,000 didn’t release this. One guy stole the files and gave them to wiki. He has already been arrested and the founder of wiki has been on the run (in Europe) for weeks.
“I am not crazy about the spin the NYT and others are putting on this, but the facts need the light of day, and I’m glad for that. “
Except that is why this information was released or the intent of the information they released. They released this to show how evil America is.
I’ll bet dollars to donuts this leak was orchestrated by obumber himself. Gotta distract from massive casualties American solderers are suffering due to the inept leadership by the so called potus.
Probably not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Co._v._United_States
Highly irresponsible maybe, probably not illegal though.
So the period covered by the leaked documents coincides perfectly with Dear Leader's announcement of his new strategy in Afghanistan. It covers the Bush years plus Obama's first year. But it conveniently stops at the point when Obama announces the new strategy.
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