WikiLeaks expected to release 400,000 secret Iraq War files
By ANISunday, October 17, 2010
LONDON - Whistleblower website WikiLeaks is reportedly preparing to release around 400,000 classified documents relating to the United States-led war in Iraq.
According to Fox News, the release, which could come as early as Sunday, will be the website’s largest publication of classified materials to date.
The files have been leaked to the whistleblower website from an unconfirmed source.
It is believed that in preparation for the potential impact of the reports going public, Pentagon officials had set up a 120-person taskforce several weeks ago.
“The team has been searching the Iraq war database to determine what the possible impacts might be,” Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said.
In a letter released on Friday, Pentagon officials stated that the leaks could cause significant damage to US security interests.
Earlier, in July, WikiLeaks’ had released over 90,000 U.S. military documents on the war in Afghanistan.
The huge cache called the ‘Afghan War Diaries, 2004-2010′, one of the biggest leaks in US military history, was given to the New York Times, the Guardian and the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
The organization had said that its aim was to reveal “unethical behaviour” by governments and corporations.
“We believe that transparency in government activities leads to reduced corruption, better government and stronger democracies. All governments can benefit from increased scrutiny by the world community, as well as their own people. We believe this scrutiny requires information,” the organization’s website said.
The organization’s founder, Julian Assange, had said that the documents revealed broader levels of violence in Afghanistan than the military or the news media had previously reported.
“It shows not only the severe incidents, but the general squalor of war, from the death of individual children to major operations that kill hundreds,” he had said.
The documents also proved right fears that Pakistan was aiding the Taliban to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan. (ANI)
