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Wikileaks: Iraq Version
[Tycho?]![[Tycho?]](https://us.v-cdn.net/5018289/uploads/userpics/934/nHG8VEMRTY5QM.gif)
As elusive as doubtRegistered User regular
As elusive as doubtRegistered User regular
So, Wikileaks will be in the news again shortly.
That is 400 000, compared to the parlty 90 000 documents released pertaining to the war in Afghanistan, which caused a bit of a shit storm as the US proceeded to attack Wikileaks and its founder. Despite the shitstorm, with much talk of "blood on hands" over outing collaborators and putting US sodliers at risk, it turns out that it may have not been such a big deal after all:
What are we going to see in these documents? Hard to say, but 400 000 leaves room for almost anything. We've got good times like Abu Grahib prison. The Sunni/Shia bloodbath and ethnic cleansing. Blackwater and other mercenary groups/private contractors doing their thing. Massive corruption. IEDs and the rise of US casualties. Foreign fighters, and support from Iran. The "Sunni Awakening" and the "Surge", followed by a decrease in violence. The withdrawal beginning. We've got some potential here for some interesting stuff, but I suspect the really interesting parts will be the unexpected. We'll also get to see if the US cracks down harder on Wikileaks and its founder.
SourceThe Pentagon is braced for its biggest-ever security breach of classified information as Wikileaks, the website that publishes leaked official documents, prepares to release 400,000 intelligence files related to the Iraq war.
That is 400 000, compared to the parlty 90 000 documents released pertaining to the war in Afghanistan, which caused a bit of a shit storm as the US proceeded to attack Wikileaks and its founder. Despite the shitstorm, with much talk of "blood on hands" over outing collaborators and putting US sodliers at risk, it turns out that it may have not been such a big deal after all:
Source (also mentioned in first article)The online leak of thousands of secret military documents from the war in Afghanistan by the website WikiLeaks did not disclose any sensitive intelligence sources or methods, the Department of Defense concluded.
...
But a senior NATO official in Kabul told CNN that there has not been a single case of Afghans needing protection or to be moved because of the leak.
What are we going to see in these documents? Hard to say, but 400 000 leaves room for almost anything. We've got good times like Abu Grahib prison. The Sunni/Shia bloodbath and ethnic cleansing. Blackwater and other mercenary groups/private contractors doing their thing. Massive corruption. IEDs and the rise of US casualties. Foreign fighters, and support from Iran. The "Sunni Awakening" and the "Surge", followed by a decrease in violence. The withdrawal beginning. We've got some potential here for some interesting stuff, but I suspect the really interesting parts will be the unexpected. We'll also get to see if the US cracks down harder on Wikileaks and its founder.
[Tycho?] on
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Oh fucking please. Everyone else in Manning's job thinks he is a fucking tool if the allegations are true.
It was probably just a few bad apples. Can't have the leaders taking responsibility, no sir.
That, or "Wikigate."
Everyone is expecting jaw-dropping cover-ups and military conspiracies, but my bet is all we're going to get, like we did with the Afghan war leak, is just a lot of minutia. I mean, very life changing (or ending) for the people that went through that on the ground, but nothing that is going to shock people about US foreign policy.
Alternatively, in which after half the people who helped us in Iraq have been killed in reprisals following the withdrawal of foreign troops from many areas, Julian Assange figures it's a good time to put the other half in front of the firing squad.
Well, no. It turns out that some random, unattributable guy in Kabul - pretty much the last place anyone would find out about relocation, because any source protection activities would be done at a local level and have an extremely restricted number of people who knew about it, for obvious reasons - said that he doesn't know anything about it.
Mostly when I see a quote from 'senior ****** officials' they get it very wrong and patently don't know what they are talking about.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
So um, maybe something will actually happen this time besides saber rattling.
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So far that's the only surprising news to me as I operated under the whole "that's just cheney" mind whenever Iran being dicks came up.
The torture honestly does not surprise me.
I haven't read any specifics about Iran's involvement yet, but yeah, they're pretty involved. Now even moreso. They have massive political influence inside Iraq, perhaps as much or more than the US has. Iran is a major trading partner, religious influence, and more generally is the closest, biggest power. As US power declines in Iraq, Iran's will only grow.
Iran has been supporting Muqtada al-Sadr (Iran is like his second home), and JAM for some time. We've been finding Iranian made C4 and RPGs in caches in Iraq for years.