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Thousands of 'Secret' Afghan War Files Released on Internet


U.S. and Pakistani officials are condemning the publication of leaked documents that are said to be secret U.S. military files about the Afghanistan war.

The website WikiLeaks posted tens of thousands of documents online Sunday, and said it has another 15,000 documents that will be released "as the security situation in Afghanistan permits."  It says the files cover the period between January 2004 and December 2009.

White House National Security Advisor James Jones issued a statement calling the leaks "irresponsible," saying they not only put the lives of Americans and their partners at risk, but also threaten national security.

The leaked documents are said to include records detailing raids carried out by a secretive U.S. special operations unit against what U.S. officials call "high-value" insurgent and terrorist targets.  Some of the raids are said to have resulted in unintended killings of Afghan civilians.

Also included are documents allegedly describing U.S. fears that Pakistan's intelligence service was aiding the Afghan insurgency.

Jones said WikiLeaks made no effort to contact the U.S. government, which learned about the release from news organizations.  Those include The New York Times, London's Guardian newspaper and the German weekly Der Spiegel.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S., Hussain Haqqani, insisted his country is fully committed to fighting Islamic insurgents.  He said the released documents do not reflect current on-the-ground realities.  

National Security Advisor Jones noted that former U.S. President George W. Bush was in office during the bulk of the period between January 2004 and December 2009.  Jones said that on December 1, 2009, President Barack Obama announced a new strategy with a substantial increase in resources for Afghanistan and a focus on al-Qaida and Taliban safe havens in Pakistan.  

He said the shift in strategy was precisely because of the grave situation that had developed over several years.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange compared the leaked files to the Pentagon Papers -- a top-secret report about the Vietnam War that had been ordered by then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara.  The report was first published by The New York Times and helped shift public opinion about the Vietnam War.

In April, WikiLeaks posted a video of a 2007 helicopter attack in Iraq that killed an Iraqi journalist and his driver.  The U.S. military has charged 22-year-old Army specialist Bradley Manning with leaking the video to the website.  He was detained in June after allegedly boasting about his exploits to a former hacker during an online conversation.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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To General Jones:

To the extent that "national security" really means the right of the U.S. military to conduct semi-secret imperial wars of aggression, such as is the case in Afghanistan, the Wikileaks action represents a triumph of freedom of expression the whole world must celebrate, expand, and protect. General, "the whole world is watching" and will be participating as well. The economic system you are sworn to defend is falling like a house of cards. Good riddance!

Please spread widely. General Joe










Notes to make more publishing easy below:

Inspiring news and a short message from General Joe.


To General Jones:

To the extent that "national security" really means the right of the U.S. military to conduct semi-secret imperial wars of aggression, such as is the case in Afghanistan, the Wikileaks action represents a triumph of freedom of expression the whole world must celebrate, expand, and protect. General, "the whole world is watching" and will be participating as well. The economic system you are sworn to defend is falling like a house of cards. Good riddance!

Please spread widely. General Joe

AP and General Joe