On Monday, July 25 WikiLeaks posted over 90,000 documents from the U.S. military on the war in Afghanistan. These documents are highly classified and leaked by insiders. Julian Assange, who directs the web site from Sweden, had given the documents in advance to The New York Times, the Guardian and Der Spiegel, all of whom strongly support the U.S./NATO war in Afghanistan. This is a small portion of the documents that have been leaked.
The leak was denounced by the Obama administration and other NATO governments. They have been dismissed by media supporters of the war, like Christie Blatchford of the Globe and Mail. The Globe occasionally complains about government secrecy, but in this case the editors criticize WikeLeaks for creating a “national security” threat to the war operations.
What do the documents reveal?
The mainstream media has concentrated on the fact that some political and military elements in Pakistan are giving support to the Afghanistan insurgency against the U.S./NATO occupation. This is certainly nothing new. But the mainstream media, as expected, has chosen to ignore the information in these documents which would further increase popular opposition to this war. For example:
* U.S. Task Force 373, a U.S. Special Forces unit, is widely engaged in Afghanistan in the assassination of people suspected of supporting the insurgency. Very often they have called in air support which killed innocent civilians. This is a secret operation.
* The insurgency now has anti-aircraft weapons which it is using to shoot down aircraft and drones, including Canadian drones.
*NATO forces are killing far more civilians than they and the Karzai government are willing to admit.
*NATO forces are being used to help the Karzai government suppress popular demonstrations. This includes the use of military force. In one case, in Jalalabad on May 11, 2005, U.S. Marines used helicopter gun ships to “shut down” a street demonstration, resulting in the death of 37 Afghan civilians.
*There is widespread insurgency all across Afghanistan, much more extensive than is reported by the NATO governments and the mainstream media. The insurgency is steadily increasing.
What else is in these documents?
The mainstream media and commentators are speculating on what else is in the treasure trove of documents yet to be released by WikiPedia. It has sparked some concern in Canada, as U.S. military reports of the conflict in Operation Medusa on September 3, 2006, posted on WikLeaks, state that the deaths of four Canadians was not by the insurgents but in fact the result of a guided bomb, brought in by U.S. forces. Friendly fire deaths. The Harper government insists that this report is not true.
Why are we in this war?
The Globe and Mail and other mainstream media sources, as well as government spokespersons, still insist that this war is to prevent another al-Qaeda attack on the United States. The Globe claims that “reliable independent information is lacking” on what is going on in Afghanistan. That is nonsense. To find out what is going on just access Asia Times Online. Their reporting is notable for its accuracy.
By following the Asia Times coverage, readers will find that the United States and its NATO allies have a clear geopolitical agenda in Afghanistan and Central Asia. It still focuses on controlling the oil and gas interests of the Caspian Sea Basin and other natural resources in the region. Here you will find that the U.S. government is building additional permanent military bases, as in Iraq, and has no intention of pulling its forces out of the country. Afghanistan is the base for U.S. operations in the Central Asian region. It is the home of the new prison at Bagram Air Force Base, replacing the one at Guantanamo Bay.
In the meantime, follow the leads in the article below, and give this website a look: http://www.WikiLeaks.org.
John W. Warnock is a Regina political economist and author of Creating a Failed State: The US and Canada in Afghanistan. Fernwood Books, 2008.
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Background on WikiLeaks
Written by pelliott on 2010-07-27 14:26:08
In recent years WikiLeaks has reportedly released more classified documents than all the world's media combined, according to this really interesting Ted Talks interview with founder Julian Assange:
TedTalks - Julian Assange Interview |
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