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WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, U.S. says
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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange holds up a copy of a newspaper during a press conference at the Frontline Club in central London, July 26, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Andrew Winning
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, the Pentagon said on Thursday, warning its unprecedented leak of secret U.S. military files could cost lives and damage trust of allies.
An Army intelligence officer, already under arrest, is at the center of an investigation into the leak of more than 90,000 secret records to WikiLeaks, one of the biggest security breaches in U.S. military history, U.S. officials have said.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates declined to comment on the probe but said he could not rule out more leaks of classified information. He also announced plans to tighten access to sensitive intelligence data.
"I don't know whether there is anyone else out there that is a party to this," Gates said at the Pentagon in his first public comments since Sunday's publication of the documents.
Admiral Mike Mullen, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the top U.S. military officer, lashed out at WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, who says he aims to expose corporate and government corruption.
"Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing," Mullen said. "But the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family."
Gates said he did not know whether Assange should face criminal prosecution or whether WikiLeaks should be treated like a media organization protected by free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution. "I think that's a question for people who are more expert in the law than I am," he said.
But asked about a possible broadening of the criminal investigation to include WikiLeaks, Gates said he had asked the FBI to assist the Army's probe to ensure that the investigation "can go wherever it needs to go."
President Barack Obama and military top brass have played down any revelations from the leaked documents, which have fanned doubts in Washington about the unpopular and costly nine-year-old war.
June was the deadliest month for foreign troops since the start of the conflict in 2001 and U.S. officials warn they expect casualties will keep rising over the summer.
U.S. CONTACTS AT RISK
Obama met his national security team at the White House on Thursday and officials said the WikiLeaks case was discussed.
Gates, a former CIA director, told reporters his biggest concern was that Afghans and other allies would no longer trust the United States to keep their secrets safe. The documents include intelligence reports and expose names of contacts.
"I spent most of my life in the intelligence business, where the sacrosanct principle is protecting your sources," Gates said.
"It seems to me that, as a result of this massive breach of security, we have considerable repair work to do in terms of reassuring people and rebuilding trust, because they clearly -- people are going to feel at risk."
He said there were technological solutions to tighten security of classified military networks. One defense official suggested possible measures could include deactivating computer functions used to download data onto portable devices, like CDs or thumb-drives.
Beyond exposing U.S. contacts, the leaked documents also threw an uncomfortable spotlight on links between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency and insurgents who oppose U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
Mullen acknowledged some ties remained but said Islamabad was "strategically shifting" against insurgents.
"There have been elements of the ISI that have ... a relationship with extremist organizations and that we, you know, we consider that unacceptable. In the long run I think that the ISI has to strategically shift," he said.
"And they are strategically shifting. That doesn't mean that they are through that shift at all."
The Army investigation into the incident has focused on Army specialist Bradley Manning, who was already charged earlier this month with leaking information previously published by WikiLeaks, U.S. defense officials say.
Manning is awaiting trial on charges of leaking a classified video showing a 2007 helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists.
Neither Manning nor anyone else has been named as a suspect in the latest leak and investigators are not ruling out the involvement of multiple individuals.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Hmmmm,just because the editor’s name is Mohammad,therefore he is a Muslim?…..bery,bery good!…..pardon my accent! :-)
US choose to invent a lesser evil – Taliban’s, to oust a pro communist regime – supposedly a bigger evil – in Afghanistan. Now the whole region and most parts of the world have to pay the price.
yangguizi – Oh boy! Read more and write less – then may be you will not look so ignorant and dumbass. Mohammad is the name of the editor but the article obviously is written by Phil Stewart and Adam Entous. If you do not know what the editor does, ask somebody to enlighten you. How do you know that this mosque is an evil? Prejudice? Ignorance? (though is pretty obvious) And by the way, didn’t your mammy told you that 9/11 has nothing to do with Mohammad, or the mosque, or with Afghanistan, or Iraqistan, or any other Istan, or with the Muslims in general because of it was an inside job?
Saturn2000
Are you aware of what an editor does? An editor decides what is printed and what isn’t. He can add sentences and change words to fit his own bias. Maybe you should learn what an editor does. The fact that you make some comment about my mother shows you are the child who can’t form an argument.
Kraj: The Taliban were not created by the US. They were there and then the US used them to fight the soviets. Priorities change. The chinese also helped the Vietnamese fight the Americans only to have the Chinese invade vietnam later in 1979. If you have such a simplistic thought process of history, it is not wonder you make up weak arguments to show your hatred of the US. Are you trying to say that if the Soviets took Afganistan, it would be a peaceful world? That is an assumptions i’m not willing to make.
Alwinder: Yes, most likely he is. But, I don’t see why Americans have to be acccepting of Muslims or anyone names Mohammad when these people are not accepting of American culture or our religion. In fact, where were all the so-called moderate Muslims when the US was attacked (assuming you are not ignorant enough to believe the “inside job” story made up by idiots using a computer to make the plane look like a missle). They were all worried about their own skin. We cannot and should not have tolerance for an intolerant people like Muslims.
you are pathetic yangguizi…. screw you and your freedom… your precious american capitol created beasts like alqeada and osama by using their religion to your works! and now you blame it on islam?
You cant even think of understanding what hapopens on streets of iraq,baghdad or karachi while sitting in comfort of your air conditioned homes… dont pretend to know and comment on something u knw frm your cnn or bbc… all there news are filtered from ministry of information,utlimately showing those in favor of govt. Im not an extremist muslim, but i have travelled there for business and i know how ppl strap bomb to there chest for a month of food supply, or in vengeance whn all there family die on a beautiful sunny morning just becuz worlds most advance military force got info that “terrorists” are harbouring near their home..
dont blame islam and claim to know it ,when, im pretty sure, you havent even gone in a mosque
afghanistan is where empires go to die. the sooner the US & NATO leave, the better. You can’t win an occupation. The US should’ve focused on that war before starting the BS in Iraq.
I really wish people would form their own opinions, rather than take on the MSM version of facts. And yes, you can read reuters, fox, huffington, drudge, cnn, msnbc, etc and form an opinion. It’s called critical thinking… or maybe they didn’t teach that in your college.
There is terror wherever US has its presence. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. The majority of US citizens themselves do not want this war (talk about democracy). There is no proof of muslims or Afghans or Osama being involved in 9/11, only propaganda that has made this an established fact rather than an issue wanting open investigation and reporting. Every where you see, with an open mind, muslims are the victims. Kashmir, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine … you have ready statistics about US casualties .. have you ever taken a count of Afghan or Iraqi casualties? Do it and dont be surprised if it is a 1000 times that of USA. Even the statistics will tell you who is terrorizing who.
yangguizi
Wikileaks is against corporate and government: coverups, courruption, negligence and criminal acts. What are you against? All the billions of Muslims!
So what if he is a muslim? There is such a thing as objectivity in journalism, he’s not going to ruin Reuters reputation and believe me there are watchdogs for such immoral acts.
YOU are sick of people different to you. You lump moderate muslims in with the terrorists, generalising like that is a sign of ignorance, frustration and despair.
Yeah the Taliban were there before, but al qaeda wasn’t. Afghanistan has repulsed invaders many times throughout history, but the CIA never gave them stinger missiles that they sold on the black market… long story short, the Afgans could have repulsed the USSR (mountains, caves and guerrilla warfare) look at Afghanistan now, the biggest high tech war machine today can’t even defeat a fraction of the population.
You know what, you should know this, it’s in your fancy constitution. you cannot force them to convert to one branch of christianity (If America is a christian nation, which branch is it?) It’s freedom of religion…
“where were all the so-called moderate Muslims when the US was attacked They were all worried about their own skin. We cannot and should not have tolerance for an intolerant people like Muslims.”
You are hawlawreeus! While all us white folks were trying to come to terms with what this meant, how/why it happened and who did it; muslims in America did the same and then thought of people like you.
You should read more, well hell here’s a thought exercise: If you went to live overseas (which i’m certain you haven’t) Would you stop being a christian; stop speaking english in your own home; stop eating the food of your home; stop thinking about the people back home and not be angered when some ignorant bigot rants about the evil christians?
The world is more complicated than you think, grow up.
Saturn2000: You are presuming that those who criticize US policies hate US – cold war era has gone – it is better to learn from mistakes. Taliban’s and hard liners are there all over the world – Europe, US, Africa and Asia. War is the last option – and just see what has America gained? Had worst attack upon its soil by the same Taliban’s nurtured in Af-Pak! Better not follow Chinese & Russian policies – rather one can learn from their mistakes, and they are different Ideologies which we rather hate, why take their examples? Have they taken Vietnam & Afghanistan? Has US taken Iraq & Afghanistan? As far as religious hatred in some comments is concerned, it is astonishing and deplorable.
