Afghan war laid bare by unprecedented information leak
The documents paint a bitter picture of an increasingly bitter conflict through previously unpublished reports of civilian casualties and threat reports
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Monday, 26, Jul 2010 11:14
By Matthew Champion.
The governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States have reacted with a mix of shock, disbelief and anger after the biggest leak of classified information in military history exposed what has been described as the "total history" of the war in Afghanistan.
More than 90,000 military and diplomatic reports filed between 2004 and January this year were published last night by the Guardian, the New York Times and Germany's Der Spiegel after they were passed on by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
The documents paint a bitter picture of an increasingly bitter conflict through previously unpublished reports of civilian casualties and threat reports.
They also reveal the presence of a special ops US army and navy "capture or kill" unit targeting senior insurgents and claim the US is aware of covert Pakistani support for the Taliban through its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
"The Afghan government is shocked with the report that has opened the reality of the Afghan war," said spokesman Siamak Herawi.
Pakistan has denied secret backing for the insurgency, with the ISI itself calling the claim "farfetched and unsubstantiated", while Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the US, added: "The documents circulated by WikiLeaks do not reflect the current on-ground realities.
"The United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan are strategic partners and are jointly endeavouring to defeat al-Qaida and its Taliban allies militarily and politically."
US national security adviser General James Jones said the release of the classified information was "irresponsible".
"The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organisations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security," he said.
"These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people."
But former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, head of the foreign relations committee in the Senate, argued: "However illegally these documents came to light, they raise serious questions about the reality of America's policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan."
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said 15,000 documents had been held back to avoid endangering those who had informed on the Taliban.
"There certainly have been people who have lost elections as a result of material being on WikiLeaks," he explained.
"There have been prosecutions because of material being on WikiLeaks. There have been legislative reforms because of material being on WikiLeaks. What has not happened is anyone being physically harmed as a result."
WikiLeaks had already gained international attention last year when it published video evidence apparently showing the US military killing civilians in Baghdad in 2007.
US army Private First Class Bradley Manning, 22, is currently on trial on charges of leaking the footage.