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In other war news, General Mattis appeared today before the Senate committee who will vote on his nomination:
The general who led Marines from Camp Pendleton into combat in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 and 2004 warned Tuesday that there will be more U.S. casualties in coming months in Afghanistan, where the U.S.-led coalition includes 10,000 troops from Camp Pendleton.
Marine Gen. James Mattis, nominated to become commander of the U.S. Central Command, with authority over Iraq, Afghanistan and other potential hot spots, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that there will be more fighting ahead but that the momentum favors the U.S. and its Afghan allies.
“I believe it will be a difficult summer and into the fall,” Mattis said. “We will have some bad days ahead, but so long as we hold fast and adapt faster than the enemy, the enemy’s situation will continue to worsen.”
On the other hand, there’s this about funding the war which got additional funding approval today in the House despite Wikileaks’ infodump which shows how increasingly pointless it all is.
just to repeat what I said on the other thread on this…
Whistle blowing to uncover some nasty truth like pointing out Johnson Administration lied to Congress and the public about Vietnam and our true national interests (Pentagon Papers) and whistle blowing because you found a big ass whistle like Julian Vuvuzela Assange and his WikiLeaks are very different. The latter seem just is just reprehensible.
The number of Afghan families that are now in jeopardy from this because there names show up in a troop report will only bring more death.
I applaud WikiLeaks for whistle blowing but with that whistle comes responsible editing choose the appropriate/relevant material from this large cache and redact some names if for no other reason than the safety of the small children of the Afghani and Pakistani individuals listed in the reports.
Hypocrite he says they “strip the harm” and says he has not read all of the reports
How would he know the Harm has been striped?
I fear there will soon be Afghanis who have talked to the US troops killed by Taliban fighters Some of this blood will be on Julian Assange’s hands.
This guy sounds like a narcissist
We need a more responsible Whistle Blower
Of course Mattis will say there will be more fighting. He has gone on record loving fighting and killing other humans.
When you put a sociopath in a top command you will get violence and destruction.
Washington found killing people distasteful. It had to be done but having people surrender was more agreeable. This guy is a nutjob and he is allowed to command.
This will only make matters worse.
Cursor_
As far as I’m concerned the traitor Bradley E. Manning’s crime is being a fan of Lady Gaga
http://mediaite.com/online/how-lady-gaga-helped-bradley-manning-leak-military-documents-to-wikileaks/
Weather is everything in Afghanistan. A hard spring will send the enemy home early for the season. Wish for snow.
I with John and Adam on this one. Wikileaks is a CIA run honey pot. If this guy was for real he would of had two shots to the head long ago. The question is, what are they up too and why do they want us to know all this? hmmm
http://deadlinelive.info/2010/07/26/wikileaks-911-and-george-soros/
I keep wondering if, when countries such as China or Russia get into military conflicts, that sites and individuals like these will be as forthcoming of them as they are the United States Military.
Pedro–I thought you were going to beat me to it, but you went another direction, so I will say:
“…which shows how increasingly pointless it all is.”
Once something is pointless, thats it. No increase or decrease about it. Like being “unique.”
On news or blogs or reports, I hardly ever listen to what a politician has to say “unless” it is against their own interest or the guy is throwing a bomb. Happens often enough that “some” attention is warranted. But the military? Never happens. They are all tools. Thats not a bad thing just keeping things in proper perspective. You don’t ask a tool how many legs to make for a table.
Reporting on what a military leader thinks about anything is rather perverse.
“there will be more casualties” …
in other news today – water is wet.
He should be given a far trail and then the turdsicle should be taken to the woodshed raped and shot.
treason without reason: I take it you favor keeping our troops overseas fighting and dying for no reasons far removed from our own national security? Why is that?
#1 The difference between now and the Vietnam era is that the press is now unable to develop its own sources to back a damaging expose. Confidential sources are now in the top echelon of an administration or in the opposing party. It’s all very comfortable and professional.
Wikileaks provides raw materials to reporters who have yet to make a name for themselves. Since they haven’t gotten on the all access tour they don’t have to worry about pissing people off.
This is a good thing.
#14
So Chris do you think Assange should except any responsibility for the information he puts out?
Let’s say Assange mom or your mom lived in Afghanistan there was a roadside bomb planted on her block and it killed some US soldiers. Other soldiers came and questioned her as to who she might have seen hanging around where the bomb was planted, She saw nothing and said so but the soldiers report only said they spoke with her.
then Taliban fighters do a quick search for names or events in this list and find mom’s name and go out and kill her and any one else who was known to have talked to the US soldiers
would he even edit out his own mothers name ? Its clear he cares little about innocent Afghan moms.
Yes Whistle Blowing is a good thing. But if you choose to blow you take the responsibility for what is blown out.
In 1943/44? If he had come across Schindler’s list of maybe not so skilled jewish workers would he post that for all to read?
By not sifting through this stuff he has no idea what hell he could will bring to law-abiding people.
Howard==personal stories always break your heart. The point of the wikileak however is to GET OUR TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN. If that happens then 8 years from now there won’t be any US troops in a foreign country for the Afghan women to talk to. Then everyone’s Mom can have acid thrown in their faces for trying to learn to read.
Progress.
So the Senate gets to pretend that they’re of some use. By largely agreeing with the choice the Pentagon already made up its mind about. Horay! Next pointless committee task.
I here Ya Bobbo, I just think Assange should have hired a team to read this and edit out the stuff that could obviously harm more innocents.
The way he handled this there is no incontrovertible incriminating evidence that will do much to change public opinion This will just fade away and make Assange seem like a villain when the Afghan moms acid scared and illiterate get killed and the Taliban credits these reports as the source of there information.
He chose to put all this out without even knowing what was in it.
this war has been going on for 8 years a few more days to edit this would be an understandably delay
I wonder if he would bother teach his kids to look both ways before crossing a busy street.
Lost in all this whistle blowing and disapproval of same. Is an earlier report of Afghanistan’s untapped mineral wealth. Not oil, as it is in Iraq. But metals valuable to modern technology. So you can bet it’s not merely coincidence that war has come to this barren nation. There always seems to some form of mineral wealth at stake, in these wars. Starting with the invasion of South America, some 400 years ago (maybe earlier). GOLD! Same for some South African nations (GOLD). And later, Diamonds. But the invaders always pretend they’re there for a worthy cause.
Bill HR 5741
ask yourself,do you feel lucky?
Point is, this asshat hacked the info!
If my son dies because of his release of this info I’ll kill the cocksocker my self!
Traitor. Hang him.
#18–Howard==thats a fair criticism as true as it may be. Anything can be done better. I didn’t listen to them but I’ve seen teasers to the point that he did review and edit for safety of the innocents, and another teasers saying innocents are not in harms way.
Aspersions are easy to throw. Some people think you are a traitor if you are not for war all the time no matter the issue.
Always a “tough” hypothetical. Get 1000 innocents killed in the next year by releasing the papers, or get 10,000 innocents killed over the next 3 years by not getting out of Afghan/Iraq. Or discuss waiving a magic wand and have all innocents saved? We all wish there was magic, but mostly there is just asshats like Matt.
Two schools of thought: One says the Truth Will Set You Free, and the other says Brushing Shit Under The Rug is all you need to do.
What’s that smell?
And there is a NY Times article today discussing how Wikileaks has done a pretty half-assed job of removing identifying information from these documents. And even if you do take out the names, a person could look at these together and gain a great deal of insight about our methods and techniques for information gathering; which makes those techniques potentially less effective in the future. Which is why much of these types of things are classified in the first place – not for the content, but for how it was gathered.
#15 Using the WWII era as an example of morality in warfare is not effective. The set of all things like WWII includes only WWII.
I’m pretty sure Assange would regret any harm he causes by providing too much information. That he continues is based on a historical judgment that too little information leads to worse outcomes.
In the interview he specifically addresses your concerns. If he has people go over every inch of the material the window when the public can press their representatives over policy decisions has already passed.
Do US foreign military adventures produce more unintended harm or does Julian Assange?
Back to my earlier point, if reporters are unable or unwilling to really dig up dirt somebody needs to provide that function. I’d even argue that WikiLieaks provides a necessary indirection to stop reporters from being imprisoned for protecting sources. If Congress is unwilling to provide protection for source confidentiality it needs to be handled in some other way.
You know, if people are afraid of U.S. soldiers or Afghans dying because of this report, then maybe they should have supported an open government. The kind of government that was straight with the people and not groveling in putrid secrecy and lies. There are moral secrets and immoral secrets, guess which one the U.S. government engages in. Wikileaks should be commended for their steadfastness in spite of the excuse of people dying that would be brought before them. Yes it’s possible that people may die but that is not the fault of Wikileaks, it is the fault of 10 years of U.S. government bullshit.
Before we get all outraged about more Afghans dying because of Wikileaks, can someone please point to the actual content that contains identification of informants? So far I’ve only heard this accusation from the Whitehouse but before I grab my pitchfork and flaming torch I’d like to see the excerpts and be convinced that someone could be identified.