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Wikileaks Releases U.S. Afghanistan War Files; Partners With NY Times, UK Guardian, Der Spiegel
Sunday, July 25, 2010 | Kristinn

Posted on 07/25/2010 2:51:21 PM PDT by kristinn

Read reports on the files at:

Der Spiegel

The New York Times

The Guardian

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.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; appelbaum; benrhodes; bho; bho44; bhusseinobama; biden; bradleymanning; challenges; collusion; derspiegel; documents; enduringfreedom; guardian; holland; homosexualagenda; homosexuals; intelligence; issues; jacobappelbaum; liberalmedia; mediabias; mediacollusion; msm; muslimsagnstcrusades; nationalsecurityfail; newyorktimes; nytimes; obama; revolutionmuslim; roadtosocialism; seattle; tor; treason; ukguardian; wbush; wikileaks; wot
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To: ladyvet

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.


21 posted on 07/25/2010 3:38:33 PM PDT by Shady (No more LAWS based on LIES!!!!)
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To: smokingfrog
There's little doubt it's Manning.

If Wikileaks and Der Speigel, NYT and others move forward with their publication, they MUST be prosecuted.

22 posted on 07/25/2010 3:45:36 PM PDT by Mariner (USS Tarawa, VQ3, USS Benjamin Stoddert, NAVCAMS WestPac, 7th Fleet, Navcommsta Puget Sound)
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To: Repeat Offender

You, sir, NAILED IT! Right there with you!


23 posted on 07/25/2010 3:47:01 PM PDT by piytar (Journomarxists didnt go away. They just moved to a more secure venue...)
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To: Yorktownpatriot

Yea, right. The ruling class protects each other even from treason.


24 posted on 07/25/2010 3:47:23 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (The US will not die with a whimper. It will die with thundering applause from the left.)
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To: kristinn
I ran across a report recently giving - as I recall - stats about the number of US born/trained/paid “contractors”, ie mercenaries, being killed in Afghanistan, compared to deaths of US Military men/women: The ratio, as I recall was around 4:1 or 6:1.

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.

25 posted on 07/25/2010 3:50:10 PM PDT by dagogo redux (A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)
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To: kristinn

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...


26 posted on 07/25/2010 3:50:10 PM PDT by piytar (Journomarxists didnt go away. They just moved to a more secure venue...)
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To: piytar

Sorry, not “enemy combatants,” but “spies” per the Geneva Convention (not that anyone outside the conservative right care what that document actually says).


27 posted on 07/25/2010 3:55:13 PM PDT by piytar (Journomarxists didnt go away. They just moved to a more secure venue...)
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To: Mariner

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.


28 posted on 07/25/2010 4:03:10 PM PDT by Tolsti2
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To: kristinn

He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign. Sun Tzu


29 posted on 07/25/2010 4:06:06 PM PDT by WorkerbeeCitizen (They do not wish to govern us, they wish to RULE us!)
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To: SmartInsight

Obama’s too busy trying to shut down Fox News.


30 posted on 07/25/2010 4:15:12 PM PDT by historyrepeatz
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To: Cheerio

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.


31 posted on 07/25/2010 4:18:53 PM PDT by historyrepeatz
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To: petitfour

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.


32 posted on 07/25/2010 4:20:16 PM PDT by swpa_mom
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To: Yorktownpatriot

They acted stupidy


33 posted on 07/25/2010 4:22:45 PM PDT by joelt
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To: kristinn

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.


34 posted on 07/25/2010 4:33:59 PM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: kristinn

They knew this was going to happen and did nothing about it. BO is complicit.


35 posted on 07/25/2010 4:35:26 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Tolsti2

“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.


36 posted on 07/25/2010 4:37:28 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: dagogo redux

“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.


37 posted on 07/25/2010 4:40:47 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: kristinn

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.


38 posted on 07/25/2010 4:51:19 PM PDT by JoSixChip (You think your having a bad day?.....Just remember, somewhere out there is a Mr. Pelosi!)
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To: Mariner

Probably not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Co._v._United_States

Highly irresponsible maybe, probably not illegal though.


39 posted on 07/25/2010 4:56:52 PM PDT by oldleft
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To: kristinn
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.

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.

40 posted on 07/25/2010 5:03:21 PM PDT by Yardstick
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