AP: US braces for blowback over Afghan war disclosures

Posted by Kendall Harmon

Intelligence officials, past and present, are raising concerns that the WikiLeaks.org revelations could endanger U.S. counterterror networks in the Afghan region, and damage information sharing with U.S. allies.

People in Afghanistan or Pakistan who have worked with American intelligence agents or the military against the Taliban or al-Qaida may be at risk following the disclosure of thousands of once-secret U.S. military documents, former and current officials said.

Meanwhile, U.S. allies are asking whether they can trust America to keep secrets. And the Obama administration is scrambling to repair any political damage to the war effort back home.

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. Congress has so far backed the war, and an early test of that continued support will come Tuesday when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., holds a hearing on the Afghan war.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Foreign Relations • War in Afghanistan • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

3 Comments
Posted July 27, 2010 at 8:00 am [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. Dorpsgek wrote:

Fred Kaplan writes in Slate:

Some of the conclusions to be drawn from these files: Afghan civilians are sometimes killed. Many Afghan officials and police chiefs are corrupt and incompetent. Certain portions of Pakistan’s military and intelligence service have nefarious ties to the Taliban.
If any of this startles you, then welcome to the world of reading newspapers. Today’s must be the first one you’ve read.

Not the Pentagon Papers

July 27, 10:37 am | [comment link]
2. Billy wrote:

So I guess this is one thing that the Obama Administration can’t blame of Bush, since all of this “secret” info was released during BHO’s time.  This will further reinforce the perception that BHO is a unengaged, uninterested, and incompetent CinC, whether it is true or not.

July 27, 12:05 pm | [comment link]
3. elanor wrote:

as a employee of a major defense contractor, I am not unaware of the laws regarding improper handling of classified information.  Watching this on the nightly news, I kept hoping I’d hear them mention that this was a criminal act!  I think it took them about 15 minutes, after they were done salivating over the impact and meaning of all of this.

find the perp, and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.  otherwise, the BHO adminstration appears complicit.  Time for the DOJ to show that they still know how to enforce a law or two!

July 27, 6:22 pm | [comment link]
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