Let's Get to the Truth About Afghanistan

[unhappycamper]

Let's Get to the Truth About Afghanistan
by Bob Franken
Published on Monday, August 2, 2010 by the Albany Times-Union (New York)

Let's get this straight: The biggies at the White House and Pentagon charge that the massive WikiLeaks about the Afghanistan misadventure are harmful to the national interest.

At the same time, the President's mouthpiece, Robert, Gibbs insists there are "no new revelations."

Will someone explain, then, why they're harmful?

For that matter will someone explain why "no new revelations" are classified "secret" in the first place?

Actually, allow me: Secrecy is a disease that spreads to nearly all those who are infected by a security clearance. They are suddenly consumed by a desire to look down upon us mere mortals who are not part of the in-crowd.

[zipplewrath]

1. This has occured to me as well

The definition of secret doesn't seem to be holding up considering the volume of documents released. It's suppose to cause harm to the US. I will say though, Gibbs was merely saying that "no new revelations" were realized by the information, not that someone won't be harmed. The primary risk in most of this dated stuff is that some source will be identified and attacked from the information. The information today isn't all that unknown, but at the time that we collected it, that may have been different. And the Taliban may be able to figure out who was giving information, and retaliate.

The revelation in all of this is that huge amounts of information is classified because we don't take the time to down grade it soon enough.

[wuvuj]

2. putting *ssholes on pedestals?

....that is the "new normal".....in a police state.

[bik0]

3. The leak names Afghans civilians who reported ied's and/or Taliban movements

Taliban/Al Qaeda will surely seek them out - that's the harm.