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| Leaked War Files Expose Identities of Afghan Informants |
| 2010-07-28 |
| Hundreds of Afghan lives have been put at risk by the leaking of 90,000 intelligence documents to WikiLeaks because the files identify informants working with NATO forces. In just two hours of searching the WikiLeaks archive, The Times of London found the names of dozens of Afghans credited with providing detailed intelligence to U.S. forces. Their villages are given for identification and also, in many cases, their fathers' names. U.S. officers recorded detailed logs of the information fed to them by named local informants, particularly tribal elders. Julian Assange, the Australian founder of WikiLeaks, claimed on Monday that all the documents released through his organisation had been checked for named informants and that 15,000 such documents had been held back. The Afghan Government has reacted with horror to the volume of information contained in the files. A senior official at the Afghan Foreign Ministry, who declined to be named, said: "The leaks certainly have put in real risk and danger the lives and integrity of many Afghans. The U.S. is both morally and legally responsible for any harm that the leaks might cause to the individuals, particularly those who have been named. It will further limit the U.S./international access to the uncensored views of Afghans." The Pentagon claimed that a preliminary review of the thousands of secret reports released by WikiLeaks showed that they posed no immediate threat to U.S. forces. But experts warned that the Taliban and Al Qaeda would already be using the information to identify and target informers in the war zone. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #13 He claims his "organization" vetted the documents. Kinda makes you wonder how many people are involved, or if he just grepped out the documents with the word "informant" in them and called it good. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-07-28 23:35 |
| #12 Charge him of one count of contributing to murder for each and every informant killed. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-07-28 23:32 |
| #11 There should be an "accident" arranged for his benefit. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-07-28 23:31 |
| #10 Sleep well, Assange. Know that you do not nor ever will have any fatwahs issued against you. Is your family in hiding yet? |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-07-28 21:39 |
| #9 #7 tu So, the security of states is no concern of this bastard Assange? Perhaps his personal security is no concern of the state's. If governments will not or cannot act against him, perhaps private individuals can. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2010-07-28 20:39 |
| #8 Makes you wonder why the Obama administration didn't move more forcefully to prevent this from happening. Oh, oh, I already know. They wanted it. The Pentagon didn't, the CIA didn't, but the White House is okay with it. Why? Because they don't want to be in Afghanistan any more. It's no longer the good war. So if there are a bunch of leaks and it gets to be too hard to fight, why we'll just have to leave and spend all the money on Obamacare instead. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-07-28 17:04 |
| #7 Assange is really a world class piece of shit. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-07-28 17:03 |
| #6 Would be a riot if a number of these leaks were purposefully wrong, and tracable back to certain individuals. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-07-28 16:52 |
| #5 Assange in his own words, from Spiegel Online's interview with him: I enjoy creating systems on a grand scale, and I enjoy helping people who are vulnerable. And I enjoy crushing bastards. I expect there will be further episodes of this story, along the lines of The Bastards Strike Back |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-07-28 16:29 |
| #4 A comment on Wretchard's blog: "Those named are now officially chum and the taliban are sharks. Kipling has some advice: When youÂ’re wounded and left on AfghanistanÂ’s plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains AnÂ’ go to your Gawd like a soldier. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-07-28 16:23 |
| #3 Julian Assange, illegal combatant. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-07-28 16:17 |
| #2 Extradite, convict, and hang him for war crimes. No, I think other methods are far more appropriate. The leak has become an act of war. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-07-28 16:12 |
| #1 Extradite, convict, and hang him for war crimes. How is Abu Ghraib any worse than exposing the identities of informants, some of which will be killed? |
| Posted by: anymouse 2010-07-28 15:51 |