Leaked Documents Tell Secret History of the Afghanistan War

Confidential files

The anti-censorship website called WikiLeaks released some 90,000 pages of classified documents on the Afghanistan war. The source of the leak was not made known, but a Pentagon spokesman claimed it could take weeks to assess the “damage” of the unauthorized disclosure. The United States and its major allies in the war, the United Kingdom and Pakistan, all officially condemned the action of the online whistle-blower, founded by Julian Assange. WikiLeaks, which claims it has more documents pending release, first shared the secret documents with three mainstream news outlets—the New York Times, Britain’s The Guardian, and Germany’s Der Spiegel—on the condition that they would hold their reports until WikiLeaks posted the documents.

White House national security officials called the posting of such documents “irresponsible,” and warned that it put Americans’ and others’ lives in danger. Some of the revelations included that U.S. special operations forces have hunted down and killed senior Taliban militants without trial, that many Afghan civilians have been killed by accident, and that Pakistan’s intelligence service allegedly cooperated with the insurgent groups.

A week before the release of the secret documents, an international conference was held in Afghanistan, attended by delegates from 70 countries. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton promised continuing American commitment, despite the Obama administration’s plans to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from the country in 2011. U.S. goals include turning over security to Afghan police and military; achieving a stable, peaceful Afghanistan; helping eliminate corruption in the Afghan government; and providing assistance to reconstruct the war-torn nation. It remains to be seen how the newly leaked information may affect the prosecution of the war.

Related Links

  • Clinton: US, World Stand with Afghanistan
    This article discusses the international conference that was taking place in Afghanistan the week before the WikiLeaks revelations.
    (Source: Associated Press, July 26, 2010)
  • The WikiLeaks Afghanistan Leak
    This commentary on the leak of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan by WikiLeaks makes comparisons to the situation that surrounded the famous Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War.
    (Source: salon.com, July 25, 2010)
  • WikiLeaks Afghanistan Documents Show Internet’s True Power in News
    This article examines the emerging power of “new media” organizations like WikiLeaks in the news and journalism landscape.
    (Source: WebProNews, July 26, 2010)

3 Comments

  1. cassie says:

    thats not good!!!

  2. caroline says:

    thats so stupid