WIKILEAKS AND its editor-in-chief Julian Assange have come under attack from US officials and their allies for potentially endangering informants and troops in Afghanistan by posting the texts of thousands of leaked war logs.
US defence secretary Robert Gates claimed: “The battlefield consequences are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world.”
Mr Gates said sensitive intelligence had been widely distributed down to junior level in the US army, in a policy which might now have to be reconsidered.
“We endeavour to push access to sensitive battlefield information down to where it is most useful – on the front lines – where as a practical matter there are fewer restrictions and controls,” he said.
“In the wake of this incident, it will be a real challenge to strike the right balance between security and providing our frontline troops the information they need.”
Admiral Mike Mullen, who chairs the joint chiefs of staff, said: “Mr Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family.”
Afghan president Hamid Karzai called the disclosure of the names of Afghans who had co-operated with Nato and US forces “irresponsible”. He said: “Whether those individuals acted legitimately or illegitimately in providing information to the Nato forces, their lives will be in danger.”
Wikileaks withheld some 15,000 intelligence reports to protect informants. But some of the posts contain details of Afghans who dealt with the coalition.
Assange said Wikileaks had tried to comply with a private White House request to redact the names of informants. But the US authorities had refused to assist them. He said: “Gates speaks about hypothetical blood, but the grounds of Iraq and Afghanistan are covered with real blood.”
Thousands of children and adults had been killed and the US could have announced a broad inquiry into these killings, he said. “But [Mr Gates] decided to treat these issues with contempt . . . This behaviour is unacceptable. We will continue to expose abuses by this administration and others.”
US and UK authorities remained silent about the disclosures in the 92,000 war files that hundreds of civilians have been killed or wounded by coalition forces in unreported or under-reported incidents. The UK ministry of defence withdrew promises to make an official statement about US allegations that two units of British troops had caused exceptional loss of civilian life.
US authorities are concentrating their firepower on leakers and their friends. Mr Gates said the FBI had been called in to widen the investigation into Pte Bradley Manning, who is in military custody charged with leaking a classified video showing Apache pilots gunning down two Reuters cameramen. – ( Guardianservice)