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.
I think that’s by design (and so do you!)- I think The 0ne is behind the whole issue.
Of course we can expect the current Administration to BLAME BUSH. How could they be responsible for anything? Worthless bunch of Bast@@ds.
1.Of course it's Manning. And he IS being prosecuted.
2.On what legal grounds would you prosecute “the press”? They are under no legal obligation to “protect” any government declared “classified” information they manage to obtain.
The “government” always decides what information is formally “classified”, and exactly who has access to it.
It would seem they either made a very poor choice in giving Manning such access...
Or, they gave Manning access, and knew exactly what to expect.
It is certainly known amongst all levels of government for more than the thirty years of my direct observation, the exact nature and probable lifespan of “classified information”.
This might explain to the casual and ignorant observers, as to the “why” that certain agencies do not openly “communicate” with other agencies.
The pendulum always swings both ways, and will never stop, as someone will always give it another push, from either direction.
Oops - something went wrong. I meant to say that with the exception of the NYT and Manning, the US government has nolegtimate authority over the Guardian, Der Spiegel or wikileaks. They can be harassed, but lawful prosecution is unlikely. They certainly weren’t guilty of treason against the US, and I’m sure all were careful to ensure their own governments weren’t affected by the disclosures.
No, it's not -- unless you have a security clearance, which requires you to agree to those conditions. Then, it's a criminal offense.
But, for someone without the requisite security clearance, there's no penalties unless the government can meet a rather heavy burden of proof to justify prior restraint.
This issue is essentially settled law, as a result of the Pentagon Papers case back in the 70's. In that instance, the military analyst that leaked the report was prosecuted and convicted, but the injunction against the news media was lifted, by order of the US Supreme Court.
Obama is looking for a way out of Afghan by the start of serious campaigning for the 2012 election. Petraeus is looking for a way to win; or if we’re not trying to win, then he’s looking for a way to minimize our losses of the soldiers he’s spent his life with.
Personally, I also believe McChrystal also saw a no-win scenario in terms of political will. He got out. Many disagree, but I think he did so on purpose.
“How about holding Obama responsible for NOT stopping Wikileaks from releasing top secret data?”
Too often “top secret” just means that the government doesn’t want its own people to know how badly it is screwing up.
I believe I heard 56 yesterday....
“They released this to show how evil America is.”
I think the publishers acted like publishers always tend to act: if they think it’s a good story, they publish it That’s their business. As far as showing that America is evil, from what I read, the material tends to show that the war is very difficult to win because of the corruption of the Afghan government. For instance,:
““The people of Afghanistan keep loosing their trust in the government because of the high amount of corrupted government officials,” the report quoted them as saying. “The general view of the Afghans is that the current government is worst than the Taliban.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/asia/26warlogs.html?_r=1
The question that comes to my mind in reading through about a half hour of these reports is why were these classified “top secret” in the first place. Well, maybe there was a reason at one time, but it’s hard to see how it hurts our cause now to publish these reports. I see that names have been changed where it might be important. Getting the American public information about the wars it is fighting is an important service of a free press. The government is always trying to restrict the information available to the American public—they don’t want us to see their blunders. That’s why we have the First Amendment.
Yep - more blah blah blah from Freepers who aren’t going to do a dang thing about it.
Agree with the above poster who wrote a lengthy explanation on how lazy Americans are. NOBODY cares about this story outside of Freepers and a few others.
Nothing will change - nothing will be done about it. I wonder sometimes how many people in here get tired of hearing their own voices?
America has lost.
Thank You for the first intelligent post in this thread.
A revolutionary volcano is about ready to erupt.
The last time it happened 600,000 Americans died.
This time around the body count will be in the millions.
As Shakespeare said, “Every dog will have his day.”
” My God, how can these people sleep at night?! I hate them and hope they all burn in hell! “
I am all for arranging their travel there
“The question that comes to my mind in reading through about a half hour of these reports is why were these classified “top secret” in the first place.”
Because the information in them can cause grave damage to the United States. You and I don’t need to read them. Our enemies certainly want to.
I don’t rely on the NYT to make a decision on whats good for freedom or America. I know what side they are on.
“The government is always trying to restrict the information available to the American public—they don’t want us to see their blunders. That’s why we have the First Amendment.”
They don’t want our enemies to see our blunders. How many more men and women will be killed because of this?
In a statement to Der Spiegel, Obama National Security Council spokesman Ben Rhodes blamed President George W. Bush:
Purely a reflex action for a liberal, like blinking.
First, much of the information probably is, at best, confidential, and of no continuing military value, but the whole composit of data compiled into an intelligence estimate gets marked at the highest classification of the whole document.
I also have a problem with all the folks on here. It is one thing to publish an article revealing present strategy or upcoming military operations or tactical assessments.
It is quite another to publish information showing conclusively that we are on the wrong track, and that their might not be a right track. We have the right to hold our government accountable to fight just wars in a manner that leads to a desired outcome. It is our blood and treasure.
The stupidity of our senior leaders is always classified TOP SECRET Code Word DO NOT TELL THE AMERICAN PUBLIC Caveat KEEP FROM RUSH LIMBAUGH
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