The Secret Afghanistan War Docs and Wikileaks

[RED DAVE]

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/07/27/breach_of_trust/

Don't neglect this issue. Publicize it; quote from the documents; speak out.

People around here almost pretended like the BP leak didn't happen. This is a tremendous blow to the Establishment and its war.

http://wikileaks.org/

http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/

RED DAVE

[RadioRaheem84]

This is the "good war", too. :rolleyes:

[Dean]

The leaks will have a few consequences which are worth exploring.

On the one hand, it will tighten security at this level. That is to say, when low-level employees are accessing large or apparently irrelevant information, they will probably be flagged and confronted or otherwise monitored.

What is more valuable for us is that it will politicize this level of military intelligence. That is to say, future briefs will be more conservative, less straightforward, and most importantly, less robust.

When these leaks happen, they undermine the entire military hierarchy and they make it clear to the higher echelons that their underlings are no longer identified with them. That is to say, they have competing interests on some level or to some degree.

This is going to represent a contraction of military power within the system which really will be a serious blow to the establishment.

[piet11111]

Good to see resistance growing inside the army itself.
Now i would like some news reports about officers getting fragged.

[danyboy27]

witht eh economic situation litteraly forcing people to join the military, leak can and will happen, and i got some serious doubt about the us army ability to actually restrict those leaks.

with the private sector everywhere in the army, they have no choice now but to keep security measures relatively low, otherwise it would be a complete organisational nightmare.

[gorillafuck]

There should be a group of people who will put together a shorter version of the information found in these findings that gets rid of the stuff that is less important and highlights what is very important. That would be really useful.

[Serge's Fist]

It was interesting as it confirms the lefts assertions that theTaliban are growing and the large number of civilian casualties we did now about was the tip of the iceberg, I think what this leak helps us do is to put flesh on our arguments about what the NATO forces are doing in Aghanistan, it also puts fresh atrocities in the media and in front of an already hostile population. It has struck a blow at the heart of the military establishment in the USA and its allies and in a historical sense will be seen in a similar vein to the publishing in 1971 of the Pentagon Papers. Apart from an immediate withdrawal it would surely be timely to demand the opening of the books, the end of state secrets especially with regrads to military enterprises.

[RED DAVE]

Here comes the shit from the ruling class. The mass murderers want more blood.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/wikileaks-suspect-bradley-manning-in-solitary-confinement-as-probe-widens/19576150

RED DAVE

[Catillina]

Here comes the shit from the ruling class. The mass murderers want more blood.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/wikileaks-suspect-bradley-manning-in-solitary-confinement-as-probe-widens/19576150

RED DAVE


"The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents 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," Gates said, according to The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/world/asia/30wiki.html?src=mv).
Well then they should get out of it^^
It's a good thing that the material was leaked, even if its nothing new, the same shit happens in Afghanistan like in each other war...

[Red Commissar]

Unsurprisingly that was the next expected move. If they couldn't bull shit their way out of this, they're going to go with the whole "DEYS PUTTIN OUR BOYZ IN DANGER!!!11!".

And unsurprisingly the debate over this has shifted to that. People are forgetting that civilians have been massacred and focusing on that. As Red Dave shows, a GOP politician has said that execution should be an option for Private Manning, the person who leaked the Iraqi Chopper Vid and other documents, and I won't be surprised if a similar thing is uttered here.

I haven't had a chance to look through this, but it's clearly a damning sign of military incompetence (yet surveys still show the Military as the most trusted and "reliable" institution among the American populace), and it's not a surprise that the government and "defense" loons will shift the attention to something else.

From a different standpoint however, the problem with this is that it has the same impact as the last. It confirms to us and other people who are either against the war or critical about it the conceptions we have built up, but it can't do much beyond that like the Pentagon Papers did.

At any rate it is good someone is at least willing to speak out.

Edit:

Times magazine had this on their cover.

http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2010/1007/a_time_cover_0809.jpg

More of their damage control.

[Magón]

This is the "good war", too. :rolleyes:

All wars are bad. Unless of course you're talking about the Class War! :cool:

[ckaihatsu]

Here comes the shit from the ruling class. The mass murderers want more blood.


We can see the sly political-sidedness in the presumably "objective" journalism from the news article (which references corporate media sources):





http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/wikileaks-suspect-bradley-manning-in-solitary-confinement-as-probe-widens/19576150





A computer hacker named Adrian Lamo told The New York Times that he believes WikiLeaks helped Manning with the technical aspect of downloading classified documents.

Lamo says he believes that WikiLeaks helped Manning devise encryption software that allowed him to e-mail classified data out of the military computer system.

Manning "was to a great extent manipulated by WikiLeaks." Lamo told The New York Times. Lamo admits he has no direct evidence to back his claim that Manning received help.


The part where the snitch "believes" that WikiLeaks taught Manning how to ensure some confidentiality in his communications is an example of establishment propaganda -- *anyone* can do some web searches and easily find software to ensure confidentiality in their communications.

The article's author is simply stirring the pot by using that kind of language, demonizing both Manning and WikiLeaks in the process.

[ckaihatsu]

US war criminals threaten WikiLeaks, Private Manning

5 August 2010

The drumbeat of calls for repression and violence against WikiLeaks and Private Bradley Manning is a major threat to democratic rights. All sections of the US political establishment, Democratic and Republican, liberal and conservative, are seeking to retaliate against those who are exposing atrocities by the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq, and intimidate all critics of these wars of aggression by American imperialism.

[...]

http://wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/pers-a05.shtml

[Red Commissar]

This approach has worked. It seems many people I've talked to only seem to be hellbent on getting the guy who leaked the info because it has put lives in risk.

Such is the power of media.

[ckaihatsu]

Hopefully this is the beginning of the end -- look at how many years there's been a U.S. regime of censorship over coverage of events in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite an improvement in the technological *tools* of news-gathering the political environment has been more *repressive* since the days of Vietnam War media coverage. Any journalists not 'embedded' in the corporate media culture have little chance of being allowed to remain neutral observers on the battlefield.

The fact that this Pentagon Papers-like report has made it as a lasting major news item in the corporate media reveals the vexation that the bourgeois establishment is feeling over the issue of the war itself. Establishment sentiment is on a knife-edge right now and hopefully it'll tip in the direction of shutting down this latest chapter of imperialist enterprise.

[Red Commissar]

I don't know if one can compare the impact of these to that of the pentagon papers. The pentagon papers exposed why the Johnson administration when to Vietnam and the pretenses they engineered to do so.

These on the other hand give us a picture of what has happened in Afghanistan beyond what the media says. For the most part it confirms what most of us were already thinking of what was going on there.

One showed us the lie a war was started on, the other shows us the way the war has been reported and portrayed is a lie. Regardless these are significant on their own, though I'm not sure if it will convince people who've been on the side of Afghan operations to see what is really going on. It's obvious the media's approach into making the leak seem like one that one endanger lives of operatives and informants has been guided by the government to deflect attention from the content of these documents.

[incogweedo]

why isn't anybody talking about the AES256 encrypted 1.4GB 'insurance' file? Apparently, it has 1,500 or so more files in it, but holds extremely sensitive data. The idea is, it has a very hard to crack password, so if anything should happen to wikileaks owner, the password is leaked. Then the the public will know what is really going on over there.


seems like our "freedom of speech" isn't very free anymore.

here's faux neuz on it:


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/05/wikileaks-posts-huge-encrypted-insurance-file-web-sparking-rumors-new/



The military doesn't want its robots on wikileaks:

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/06/military-cautions-personnel-against-accessing-wikileaks/?iref=allsearch



U.S. government wants wikileaks to "return" (lawl) the documents:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/08/05/bts.morrell.wikileaks.cnn?iref=allsearch


And here's the documents if you want them yourself (I'd say get them now before the fascist U.S. government decides to thwart them.) you need 7zip to unzip this (has a .7z file ending). I am not responsible if the V&. well here they are:

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary,_2004-2010

[Rusty Shackleford]

the pentagon is now willing to 'compel' assange to give them back by alternative means.

honestly for a bourgeois news source christian science monitor has had some consistently good article topics.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/0806/Pentagon-threatens-to-compel-WikiLeaks-to-hand-over-Afghan-war-data


With WikiLeaks now threatening to publish thousands more classified documents on the US war in Afghanistan, the Pentagon is demanding that the whistleblower website erase its extensive classified records and hand over all documents in its possession.
"The only acceptable course is for WikiLeaks to take steps to immediately return all versions of all of those documents to the US government and permanently delete them from its website, computers, and records," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said on Thursday (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/06/wikileaks-pressure-pentagon-military-files), according to the Guardian.
He added: "If doing the right thing is not good enough for them, then we will figure out what alternatives we have to compel them to do the right thing."
The White House had condemned the leak immediately after it appeared July 25, with National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones issuing a statement (http://www.centcom.mil/en/news/statement-of-national-security-advisor-gen-james-jones-on-wikileaks) at the time that it "could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security."
But now, with WikiLeaks threatening to release more classified documents, the Pentagon is upping the pressure. The New York Times reports:
Mr. Morrell’s appeal is the Obama administration’s latest response to the disclosure, which has set off a criminal inquiry by the Army and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, prompted a sweeping Pentagon review of the documents to hunt for any information damaging to troop safety and national security, and increased pressure on President Obama to defend his war strategy.
Adding to the urgency is that Wikileaks recently posted to its website a massive, encrypted file labeled "Insurance," which is 20 times larger than its last leak. Some speculate this latest file could be the 15,000 intelligence reports that Wikileaks purports to have and says it's holding back for vetting. Other guess they could be 260,000 diplomatic cables (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gKu1DQoewmBy2do5ctRqUX5efGBAD9HDK86G0) accessed by the now-imprisoned Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, the Associated Press reports.
Manning has been quoted as saying that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would "have a heart attack" when these files go public, and that they show "almost criminal political back dealings."
Some further speculate that WikiLeaks may be using the threat to publish more files as "insurance" (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/08/2010851940060127.html) should the government go after their staff or shut down their website, Al Jazeera reports.
Pentagon spokesman Morrell further criticized WikiLeaks for encouraging US insiders to engage in espionage. He called the website a "brazen solicitation to US government officials, including our military, to break the law," Al Jazeera adds.
But legal experts say that, other than going after individuals responsible for the leaks, there is little that the Pentagon can do (http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/05/pentagon.wikileaks/?hpt=T2), according to CNN. The opportunities to leak material has multiplied in the Internet era, compounded by the fact that the US military and 16 intelligence agencies are classifying more information and that more than 854,000 Americans have top-secret clearances, according to a recent Washington Post investigation.
"The classifying of information has gone way up – it's doubled or tripled since these wars began – and then we have nearly nine years and counting of Afghanistan and Iraq and the controversial practices associated with them," Coleen Rowley, a former field-office legal counsel for the Federal Bureau of Investigation told The Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0802/WikiLeaks-When-is-it-right-to-leak-national-security-secrets).
WikiLeaks appears to be showing some restraint in what it publishes. Founder Julian Assange has said that the organization is redacting names of those who could be harmed in the 15,000 documents that could be leaked. Through The New York Times, the group has asked the Obama administration to guide it on what should be redacted, CNN reports.
Steven Aftergood, a senior research analyst with the Federation of American Scientists who directs their Project on Government Secrecy, told National Public Radio that WikiLeaks made a "very important concession" to redact certain names and details (http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/07/30/02) from documents. "It means that transparency is not the unique and overriding value but that it needs to be factored in along with others, such as security and privacy."


Julian Assange:
http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/2010/0806/0806-odu-britain-wikileaks-julian-assange/8436836-1-eng-US/0806-ODU-Britain-Wikileaks-Julian-Assange_full_600.jpg


A true bradass and demigod amongst mere mortals:
http://media.cleveland.com/world_impact/photo/bradley-manning-060610jpg-016d830e2a03fe29.jpg
And heres a smear attack on PFC(i think) Bradass(bradley) Manning (http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/07/army_whistleblower_felt_angry.html)

[Red Commissar]

I feel bad for him really. It' sad seeing some people chant along with the media for his blood. On another forum I go to, there were nutjobs pretty warm for an execution for him.

I believe he got caught when a former hacker ratted him out after talking to him.

[Rusty Shackleford]

I feel bad for him really. It' sad seeing some people chant along with the media for his blood. On another forum I go to, there were nutjobs pretty warm for an execution for him.

I believe he got caught when a former hacker ratted him out after talking to him.
yeah some hacker was worried about the loss of life.

[Red Commissar]

yeah some hacker was worried about the loss of life.

I don't really think there's any increased risk in danger from these to those in Afghanistan, at least not any more than they are facing now.

The hacker just wanted to get some reward by exposing the source of the security breach.

[Rusty Shackleford]

I don't really think there's any increased risk in danger from these to those in Afghanistan, at least not any more than they are facing now.

The hacker just wanted to get some reward by exposing the source of the security breach.
what a shit deal he probably got then. fucking asshole hacker.

[Red Commissar]

what a shit deal he probably got then. fucking asshole hacker.

It probably isn't surprising. I believe the hacker in question (Adrian Lamo) sells his services to help large companies better their security. Lamo is pretty much squealing to the establishment (a post earlier in here also mentions him squealing to the press) for some self-gain and it's quite pitiful imo.

He's the quintessential snitch.

[Communist Guy]

I think the government shouldn't be keeping all these documents from us. However, many of them do concern human life and making them public has endangered many lives.

[Red Commissar]

That matter could have easily been taken care of and was wikileaks fault for not catching the names of the informants.

However the bulk of the documents show the true extent of civilian deaths at the hands of the American military, and how they've been kept from going public.

This matter of "endangering lives" is honestly a tactic being employed by the media to distract from the things in this document that do matter. Is anyone really in increased danger in a place like Afghanistan from this?

[Communist Guy]

That matter could have easily been taken care of and was wikileaks fault for not catching the names of the informants.

However the bulk of the documents show the true extent of civilian deaths at the hands of the American military, and how they've been kept from going public.

This matter of "endangering lives" is honestly a tactic being employed by the media to distract from the things in this document that do matter. Is anyone really in increased danger in a place like Afghanistan from this?

I think there is an increased danger for some. But whether it is truly significant or not, I don't know.

But I do agree with you, the American government has been hiding a great deal of horrible things to us.

[Steve_j]

I think the government shouldn't be keeping all these documents from us. However, many of them do concern human life and making them public has endangered many lives.

Then shouldnt the government done what was requested of them and helped sort through them to ensure they didnt release anything that could endanger lives?

[Communist Guy]

Then shouldnt the government done what was requested of them and helped sort through them to ensure they didnt release anything that could endanger lives?

Yes, they should have

[Catillina]

The onlyone who endangered lives in Afghanistan is Bush/Obama, trough sending soldiers there, and starting a war

[Red Commissar]

One of the things the wingnuts have been yelling about is having more transparency in the government. It's clear with their reaction to this that it's just yet another big word for them to think they're politically aware.

[Communist Guy]

The onlyone who endangered lives in Afghanistan is Bush/Obama, trough sending soldiers there, and starting a war

I disagree, if the Americans weren't there, the taliban would be focusing on local threats and people they don't like. Women would be no more than slaves and people who opposed the taliban would be exterminated. We as leftist cannot possibly support this regime.

[Catillina]

I disagree, if the Americans weren't there, the taliban would be focusing on local threats and people they don't like. Women would be no more than slaves and people who opposed the taliban would be exterminated. We as leftist cannot possibly support this regime.

Sure, but we neither can support the war anymore. We loose it, and it will only cost more lives if we continue(Soldiers/Civils), and the warcrimes of the Allied are also huge.

Sorry but I'm against this war...

[Communist Guy]

Sure, but we neither can support the war anymore. We loose it, and it will only cost more lives if we continue(Soldiers/Civils), and the warcrimes of the Allied are also huge.

Sorry but I'm against this war...

By that logic, us, uk, etc. shouldn't have gone to war with Nazi Germany.

There is a greater good. For a few volunteers to die honorable deaths in order to save the lives of many many afghans, thats a fair price to pay.

We cannot possibly support the taliban. We have to do all we can to stop them.

But I see your point, its clearly not working.

[Catillina]

By that logic, us, uk, etc. shouldn't have gone to war with Nazi Germany.

There is a greater good. For a few volunteers to die honorable deaths in order to save the lives of many many afghans, thats a fair price to pay.

We cannot possibly support the taliban. We have to do all we can to stop them.

But I see your point, its clearly not working.

The humanitarian aspect is only second line, first line is the Pipeline (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Afghanistan_Pipeline/) trough Afghanistan, and the ressources (http://wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/afgh-j15.shtml/)...

Appendix: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/pers-a10.shtml

[incogweedo]

The onlyone who endangered lives in Afghanistan is Bush/Obama, trough sending soldiers there, and starting a war

This WHOLE thing could have been prevented if we never supported the Taliban during the cold war. We wouldn't have this problem if the U.S. and the rest of NATO didn't have this major fear of communism.

[Rusty Shackleford]

This WHOLE thing could have been prevented if we never supported the Taliban during the cold war. We wouldn't have this problem if the U.S. and the rest of NATO didn't have this major fear of communism.
essentially the root of the problem is the US support of the counter revolution.

[incogweedo]

essentially the root of the problem is the US support of the counter revolution.

Agreed

[Buffalo Souljah]

Why the Wikileaks controversy is insignificant

Before Wikileaks released 75,000 Classified DoD documents, the American people were already well aware their government was regularly concealing information and being dishonest with what information it did reveal, much like the two-trick horses they were/are. It is nothing new that the war is devastating. Yes, the data revealed in the documents reveals a disturbing picture abroad, but the picture at home, that of a growing divergence between public opinion and government policy, is more startling.

That's not to say the news won't bleed the hell out of this story (albeit, being careful to skim over the least controversial aspects, and always ina favorable light to the administration).

Anyway, just a thought.

[ckaihatsu]

Labor support for Bradley Manning


ANSWER Coalition <[email protected]> Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 12:08 PM


San Francisco Labor Council passes resolution
in support of Bradley Manning

Can you introduce a similar resolution
in your union, community or student organization?


Bradley Manning


The San Francisco Labor Council has just passed a resolution in support of Iraq war veteran and accused whistleblower Bradley Manning. This important development comes on the heels of a demonstration this past Sunday outside of the Quantico Marine Base in Virginia, where Manning is being held. CNN and other major media outlets gave prominent coverage to the protest, which had participants from ANSWER, Code Pink, Courage to Resist, March Forward!, Veterans for Peace, IVAW-DC and many others.

We encourage everyone who can to introduce similar resolutions in their unions, community and student groups, and religious organizations. If you introduce a resolution, let us know by clicking here and we will publicize it on our website.

The demand for Manning's freedom is gaining momentum across the country, and is a reflection of the growing opposition to the occupation of Afghanistan. Manning has been held incommunicado for months, charged with releasing a graphic video of an attack in April 2007 by a U.S. Apache helicopter that killed a group of journalists and civilians. News reports suggest that Manning may be charged with the recent release of 75,000 documents that paint a grim picture of the occupation.

You can read the full text of the San Francisco Labor Council resolution below. Please help us spread the word about this important display of support for Manning by posting this to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites.

Resolution in Support of Bradley Manning

Whereas forty years after the release of the Pentagon Papers, the government is now trying to criminalize, intimidate and repress those who tell the truth about U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, and

Whereas the White House and the Pentagon brass want to send a threatening message to all rank-and-file soldiers who are witnessing or learning of atrocities, and who want to expose both these crimes and the government’s lies about the war, and

Whereas Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old soldier who was stationed in Iraq, has been arrested and has been held incommunicado for months is charged with releasing a graphic video of an attack in April 2007 by a U.S. Apache helicopter that killed a group of journalists and civilians, and severely wounded two children, and

Whereas the video became a major scandal when it was released by WikiLeaks, and

Whereas the Pentagon had refused to release the video of the attack, which had been requested in a Freedom of Information Act request by Reuters news service, and

Whereas news reports suggest that Bradley Manning may be charged with the release of the 75,000 documents that WikiLeaks posted on its website recently. Those documents paint a grim picture of the repeated killing of Afghan civilians in a deteriorating military occupation by U.S. and other foreign forces, therefore be it

Resolved that the S.F. Labor Council oppose the prosecution of Bradley Manning, and further be it

Resolved that the S.F. Labor Council send a letter to President Obama and to our California Congressional representatives and Senators Feinstein and Boxer calling for the release and dropping of charges against Bradley Manning, and be it further

Resolved that the S.F. Labor Council call upon other union locals, labor councils and state and national federations to send letters to President Obama and Congressional representatives calling for the release of Bradley Manning.



A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
[email protected]
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Boston: 857-334-5084
New York City: 212-694-8720
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[thesadmafioso]

I feel that the true significance behind this event is not the actual leaking of information, but rather the symbolic nature of it. It shows the weakness of the American military-industrial complex, when it is so easily penetrated and when it is forced to politely ask wiki-leaks to not leak any more documents. The concepts of defiance and resistance are also on display here, against both the mighty American war machine and its imperialistic wars of blind aggression throughout the middle east. It serves as a beacon of hope in a ordinarily black sea of injustice, and because of such this events importance to the evolution of American society transcends the face value of some leaked documents.