Pentagon: WikiLeaks Endangers Soldiers, Afghans

(CBS)  The Obama administration has been saying there's nothing much new in those field reports from the Afghan war, but posting more than 91,000 of them on the Internet is a whole other matter. The military said Thursday the leak may have already cost the lives of American soldiers and their allies.

Special Section: Afghanistan

Admitting the damage caused by the hemorrhage of classified documents is worse than originally thought, Pentagon officials in effect accused WikiLeaks and its source within the U.S. military of murder, CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports.

"The truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

In what appears to be an attempt to build a criminal case against Julian Assange, the head of WikiLeaks, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called the director of the FBI to ask the bureau to join the investigation.

"The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners," Gates told reporters.

The documents reveal the names of Afghans who provided intelligence to the United States. Their lives are now in danger and their exposure will send a chill through anyone else thinking of helping.

"Will people whose lives are on the line trust us to keep their identity secret?" Gates asked.

The documents also provide a roadmap to the American military's tactical procedures such as a moment-by-moment log of what U.S. troops did after Spc. Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban. And it could get worse.

"It could be a substantial additional number of documents, and we have no idea what their content is either," Gates said.

Meanwhile, Assange is still free to hold press conferences, but Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old private suspected of providing the documents to WikiLeaks, is being moved from a prison in Kuwait to the brig at Quantico, Va., while investigators ready more charges against him.

Assange has vowed to release 15,000 more documents, and investigators believe Manning downloaded even more than that.

More WikiLeaks Coverage

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Will WikiLeaks Leak End Gov't Info Sharing?
Holder: DOJ Aiding Pentagon WikiLeaks Probe
WikiLeaks: We Don't Know Who Leaked Documents
WikiLeaks Reportedly Outs 100s of Afghan Informants

[clarencejohnson319]

"The truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

Mike Mullen may have already won billions in the Irish lottery, too.

May is a month, factual assertions aren't.



"The documents reveal the names of Afghans who provided intelligence to the United States. "

Prove it.

[TYTY5014]

If you dont believe that it reveals the names of 300 under cover afghans, then you should read it for yourself rather than assuming. That is how you will prove it. They have put themselves at risk and their safety is now jeprodized by the release of their identity. Next time do some research so you dont speak out of ignorance.

[m-23]

The penalty for wartime treason and espionage is DEATH. It always has been, and always remain so. The reason is that of all crimes, few of them endanger lives, and in fact NATIONAL SAFETY AND SURVIVAL, more than wartime treason and espionage.

Only in America does enemy spies become celebrities due to their attractiveness, to be returned to their home countries and a hero's (or heroine's) welcome, while our family members die in combat.

Step 1: Death by firing squad to Manning and Assange
Step 2: Hotties or notties, put Chapman and Fermanova up against the same wall.

This may sound harsh, but for some readers, it will be YOUR military family member who ends up DEAD because of the leaks. When our allies in Afghanistan die, our indigenous support crumbles out of distrust, our strategy fails miserably, and we leave in defeat making the whole war FULLY in vain, who will you blame? Let's prove a POINT to the world, which is that the US takes it's own security seriously.

As for receiving their "15 minutes of fame", when the Brits executed Mata Harri, her fame became immortal. Let's do our contemporary enemy agents the same service.

[greco99-2009]

All the lies about Iraq...5000 US troops dead...tens of thousands of US troops disabled...hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed. Over a trillion dollars of taxpayer money spent in search of imaginary (or fabricated) WMDs. Saddam a mortal enemy of the theocratic Al Quada.

Look at the staggering dishonesty, including very obvious and self serving lies by senior government officials, through most of what happened.

The above acts are what really harms America.

Killers in a helicopter shoot unarmed journalists and walk free, yet the person who exposed this crime is accused of bloodshed.

Consider how much pain, suffering and bloodshed could be saved if we have a more open society.

Secret agencies and military corruption is highly damaging to society.

We have little to fear from an open society, and a modicum of transparency is very healthy.

Maybe whistleblowers actually prevent needless bloodshed, and help prevent these disasters from happening again ?

Why are we are accusing a whistleblower of bloodshed but the actual killers walk free ?

Maybe wikileaks (and a bit of the truth for a change) will actually save some American lives?

There were 1700 suicide reported suicide attempts by US troups, 14% on major painkillers, 40% on psych meds.

The real truth is that the enemy already knows most of this stuff. Much of the secrecy is to hide corruption and policy failures from the American people.

Dozens of secret agencies, and no accountability. Lots and lots of quick profits to be made (anyone know the price of gasoline that the US pays).

What is the inevitable result ?

[greco99-2009]

Watch the video - a wounded journalist runs for cover. A medical van pulls up to help the dying. Children in the van. All are blasted indiscriminately with long range weapons. Was there a direct threat...seems no.

Of course, this revelation is bad PR for the US. And, that is the real reason for all the secrecy, spin and lies. Because the US looks evil.

How less evil, then we don't need so many lies ?

That is the real away to win - offer justice and fairness, the real American ideals. Not corrupt profiteering, and indiscriminate slaughter of innocents with massively overwhelming force.

[fariborzzak]

is this your excuse for failure in WAR.

[Rajah88]

**The Obama administration has been saying there's nothing much NEW in those field reports from the Afghan war...**

We are not so concerned with the **Newness* of what was reported; we are most concerned about the F-upedness of what was reported.**
~Bill Marher.

The US is paying the Pakistanis to pay the Taliban to fight The US.
The leaks are GOOD for the US. It confirms that The Military Industrial Mafia is the REAL ENEMY.

[newsterI]

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates Calls Massive Leak of Secret Military Reports "Dangerous" for Troops, Allies"

Oh GOOD!!! maybe now they have an excuse to finally get out of there- its too dangerous.

[greco99-2009]

All the lies about Iraq...5000 US troops dead...tens of thousands of US troops disabled...hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed. Atrillion dollars of taxpayer money. In search of imaginary (or fabricated) WMDs.

Look at the staggering dishonesty, including very obvious and self serving lies by senior government officials, through most of what happened.

The above acts are what really harms America.

Killers in a helicopter shoot unarmed journalists and walk free, yet the person who exposed this crime is accused of bloodshed.

Consider how much pain, suffering and bloodshed could be saved if we have a more open society.

Secret agencies and military corruption is highly damaging to society.

We have little to fear from an open society, and a modicum of transparency is very healthy.

Maybe whistleblowers actually prevent needless bloodshed ?

Why are we are accusing a whistleblower of bloodshed but the actual killers ?

[patricio13]

Whistle blowers? Are you serious?

Julian Assange is not "exposing crimes" as you put it. Julian is exposing troop movement patters, and names of allied sources in Afghanistan. He us FAR from a freedom fighter, as you painted him.

This is not about an "open society" or "freedom of the press", this is about leaking of intelligence information, and this Assange's total lack of common sense or taste. What some people will sell out for their 15 minutes of fame is incredible.

There is a lot of unfocused frustration in your post. I commend you for being weary of secret government, but at least consider the content before labeling this the act of a whistle blower.

[greco99-2009]

I highly doubt that Bradley Manning or Wikileaks is 'doing this for 15 minutes of fame'.

[KeithDrippingSprings]

The truth is only dangerous to Tyrants. Military secrets is an oxymoron. If you don't believe that, you didn't spend much time in the military.

[Canuck42]

If this had happened during WW II, we would be part of the Third Reich. Assange would be too self-absorbed to understand the consequences of his stupidity.

[newsterI]

"The documents reveal the names of Afghans who provided intelligence to the United States. Their lives are now in danger and their exposure will send a chill through anyone else thinking of helping.""

GOOD! one less useless $10 billion a month war then, I hope the list of names who "helped" us gets widely published so those fools will think twice of getting involved with us again, they are nothing less than Bush regime war enablers.

[rwsmith29456]

Can't we know what's going on in Afghanistan without revealing names and everything?? I think Wikileaks is extremely irresponsible.