US braces for WikiLeaks backlash
Source: Agencies |
July 28, 2010, Wednesday
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INTELLIGENCE officials, past and present, are raising concerns that the WikiLeaks.org revelations could endanger United States counterterror networks in the Afghan region and damage information sharing with US 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 US military documents, former and current officials said.
Meanwhile, US 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 US' longest conflicts is hopelessly stalemated. Congress has so far backed the war, and an early test of that continued support will come later when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by Democratic Senator John Kerry, holds a hearing on the Afghan war.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said yesterday the military doesn't know who was behind the leaks, although it has launched "a very robust investigation."
Morrell complained that too much was being made of the documents, of which even the most recent is at least six months old.
Speaking about questions the material raises about the reliability of Pakistan in the war on terror, he said statements about a dubious partnership are "clearly out of step with where this relationship is now, and has been heading for some time."
Still, the leaks are not expected to affect passage of a US$60 billion war funding bill.
Despite strong opposition among liberals who see Afghanistan as an unwinnable quagmire, House Democrats must either approve the bill before leaving at the end of this week for a six-week vacation, or commit political suicide by leaving troops in the lurch in war zones overseas.
As that political battle plays out, US analysts are in a speed-reading battle against their adversaries.
They are trying to limit the damage to the military's human intelligence network that has been built up over a decade inside Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Such figures range from Afghan village elders who have worked behind the scenes with US troops to militants who have become double-agents.
Colonel Dave Lapan, a Defense Department spokesman, said the military may need weeks to review all the records to determine "the potential damage to the lives of our service members and coalition partners."
WikiLeaks insists it has behaved responsibly, even withholding some 15,000 records that are believed to include names of specific Afghans or Pakistanis who helped US troops.
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 US military documents, former and current officials said.
Meanwhile, US 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 US' longest conflicts is hopelessly stalemated. Congress has so far backed the war, and an early test of that continued support will come later when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by Democratic Senator John Kerry, holds a hearing on the Afghan war.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said yesterday the military doesn't know who was behind the leaks, although it has launched "a very robust investigation."
Morrell complained that too much was being made of the documents, of which even the most recent is at least six months old.
Speaking about questions the material raises about the reliability of Pakistan in the war on terror, he said statements about a dubious partnership are "clearly out of step with where this relationship is now, and has been heading for some time."
Still, the leaks are not expected to affect passage of a US$60 billion war funding bill.
Despite strong opposition among liberals who see Afghanistan as an unwinnable quagmire, House Democrats must either approve the bill before leaving at the end of this week for a six-week vacation, or commit political suicide by leaving troops in the lurch in war zones overseas.
As that political battle plays out, US analysts are in a speed-reading battle against their adversaries.
They are trying to limit the damage to the military's human intelligence network that has been built up over a decade inside Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Such figures range from Afghan village elders who have worked behind the scenes with US troops to militants who have become double-agents.
Colonel Dave Lapan, a Defense Department spokesman, said the military may need weeks to review all the records to determine "the potential damage to the lives of our service members and coalition partners."
WikiLeaks insists it has behaved responsibly, even withholding some 15,000 records that are believed to include names of specific Afghans or Pakistanis who helped US troops.
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