Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bacasper]

Anyone got a good analysis of its significance?

Sunday, July 26 5pm EST.

WikiLeaks today released over 75,000 secret US military reports covering the war in Afghanistan.

The Afghan War Diary an extraordinary secret compendium of over 91,000 reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. The reports describe the majority of lethal military actions involving the United States military. They include the number of persons internally stated to be killed, wounded, or detained during each action, together with the precise geographical location of each event, and the military units involved and major weapon systems used.

The Afghan War Diary is the most significant archive about the reality of war to have ever been released during the course of a war. The deaths of tens of thousands is normally only a statistic but the archive reveals the locations and the key events behind each most of these deaths. We hope its release will lead to a comprehensive understanding of the war in Afghanistan and provide the raw ingredients necessary to change its course
....
The material shows that cover-ups start on the ground. When reporting their own activities US Units are inclined to classify civilian kills as insurgent kills, downplay the number of people killed or otherwise make excuses for themselves. The reports, when made about other US Military units are more likely to be truthful, but still down play criticism. Conversely, when reporting on the actions of non-US ISAF forces the reports tend to be frank or critical and when reporting on the Taliban or other rebel groups, bad behavior is described in comprehensive detail. The behavior of the Afghan Army and Afghan authorities are also frequently described.

The reports come from US Army with the exception most Special Forces activities. The reports do not generally cover top-secret operations or European and other ISAF Forces operations. However when a combined operation involving regular Army units occurs, details of Army partners are often revealed. For example a number of bloody operations carried out by Task Force 373, a secret US Special Forces assassination unit, are exposed in the Diary -- including a raid that lead to the death of seven children.

This archive shows the vast range of small tragedies that are almost never reported by the press but which account for the overwhelming majority of deaths and injuries.

We have delayed the release of some 15,000 reports from total archive as part of a harm minimization process demanded by our source. After further review, these reports will be released, with occasional redactions, and eventually, in full, as the security situation in Afghanistan permits.

Additional information from our media partners:

* Der Spiegel: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708314,00.html
* The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/afghanistan-the-war-logs
* The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/war-logs.html

[The Happy Warrior]

More like wikiweak.

Here's the scoop.

[mises]

[bucheon bum]

If we still had a draft and our casulty numbers were as high as they were in Vietnam, there would be a lot more protests than there were against that war. The ineptitude and similarities are very similar- at least at our end. Alas, the Taliban have no hope of eventually getting a clue like Vietnam's Communist Party did 15 years after unifying Vietnam.

We need to pull out. The madness needs to end.

[stilicho25]

@ mises. Pakistan is not acting rationally. The taleban are threating to make a pakistan a feudal backwater. While I think our strategy has been ineffective and counterproductive, theirs has been batshit insane.

[bucheon bum]

[Adventurer]

[stilicho25]

@BB I read a book by Ahmed Rashid that said the same thing that you have stated about gaining strategic depth vs India, but it still doesn't look rational to me. I would say the equivelent move on our part would be to arm Christian seperatists in Alaska in case of a war with Mexico.

@ Adventurer I had thought that the ANA was mostly Hazara. Do you have a source for that? I am just curious as to who is joining the ANA and why.

[bucheon bum]

[Leon]

[stilicho25]

@ BB Hmm, am I wrong that Pakistan fought a war against Pashtun and Baluch seperatists in the 1960s? I had thought they had been fighting since the begining of Pakistan.

[djsmnc]

All this wikileak and mass media stuff is driving me insane. Whatever happened to linear progress? Stifling the voices of the weak to create a single historical narrative and all that. Names and dates are so much nicer than having to decide whether something is/was right or not.

[ddeubel]

Others might be interested in the just posted TED interview with Julian Assange of Wikileaks. - http://bit.ly/bD2hLG

DD
http://eflclassroom.com

[bacasper]

Apparently, this whole war thing is a juggernaut that cannot be stopped, even with all these leaks.

Leaks create fresh doubt about Afghan war, secrets

By ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press Writer Robert Burns, Associated Press Writer � 39 mins ago

WASHINGTON � The monumental leak of classified Afghan war documents threatened Monday to create deeper doubts about the war at home, cause new friction with Pakistan over allegations about its spy agency and raise questions around the world about Washington's own ability to protect military secrets.

The White House called the disclosures "alarming."

The torrent of more than 91,000 secret documents, one of the largest unauthorized disclosures in military history, sent the Obama administration scrambling to assess and repair any damage to the war effort, either abroad or in the U.S. The material could reinforce the view put forth by the war's opponents in Congress that one of the nation's longest conflicts is hopelessly stalemated.

The leaks come at a time when President Barack Obama's Afghanistan war strategy is under congressional scrutiny and with polls finding that a majority of Americans no longer think the war there is worth fighting. Still, the leaks are not expected to prevent passage of a $60 billion war funding bill.

article continues at link

[Fox]