E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSBy Richard Engel, NBC News
While many will condemn WikiLeaks' release of some 400,000 U.S. military files on Iraq, these documents reveal a great deal about the war. This release of raw data shows what the military was seeing and reporting to itself.
What has been leaked?
Every time an American patrol goes out in Iraq or Afghanistan it takes notes. It gathers information. There are computers in American Humvees that can send what are the equivalent of emails back to base. These messages, usually short, are sent in addition to radio communications, which are also more or less constant. When a convoy of Humvees arrives on a scene where there has been a shooting by insurgents or a car bombing, or where an American contractor has killed Iraqi civilians, the patrol leader will get out of his vehicle and try to find out what happened. I have seen it countless times. The patrol leader will talk to people on the scene (usually to Iraqi authorities, police or military) and then send a short note to his commanders describing what he has learned. A typical note might say, "Arrived at location X, in sector Y at time Z. Iraqi Police confirm vehicles from Blackwater opened fire on civilian convoy. Three Iraqi civilians killed." The report will describe whatever the patrol discovered.
Such reports may or may not be 100 percent verified. They are snapshots. They are typically called "After Action Reports." As a matter of course, nearly all after action reports are automatically classified because they are considered "operational." Anything that relates to on-going operations is considered sensitive. These are not top-secret nuclear launch codes. This is very similar to the way NBC News works with its internal messaging system. What happened was someone (a 22-year-old private first class has been detained by the U.S. military) copied the military's internal database and released it to WikiLeaks. It would be as if a disgruntled desk assistant suddenly copied all of NBC News' notes and background material and posted them on the Web. I can imagine we would not be pleased. The private first class faces up to 52 years in prison if convicted.
What does all this show?
These scattered pieces of information reveal that the U.S. military knew exactly how bad the situation was in Iraq before things started to improve. It knew that Iraqi security forces were killing and torturing detainees. It knew Iran was deeply involved in the insurgency. It knew that American security contractors (including many still employed by the U.S. government) were killing civilians. It was gathering all this information, even as U.S. military officials were telling the world that everything was going well in Iraq. Remember, NBC News was severely criticized for calling Iraq at its worst a civil war. These leaks prove that the U.S. military knew what was happening, that it was receiving the same witness accounts we were.
Does the leak put U.S. troops at risk?
It could. The U.S. military classifies almost everything. These notes were operational and immediate. They were data points. But again, how would NBC News react? Would releasing our notes to the world impede what we do? Probably. Would it put us out of business? No. It certainly would distract us as a news organization. But most critically, would it give our competitors an advantage? Most likely. Our competitors would know what to look for. The same is true of the military. This information could be used by an intelligent computer-savvy enemy to piece together some of what the military knew, when and, in some very dangerous cases, how.
The takeaway
This is not only embarrassing for the U.S. military (how could a private first class do this?) but also raises questions. The documents paint Iraqi security forces and international security contractors in a horrible light, yet the U.S. continues to back them. Does that show hypocrisy? The leaks also make the U.S. military appear to have been hiding the truth of what was going on in Iraq from the American people, when it knew full well how bad the situation was on the ground.
Leave a Comment:
It’s more than a little ironic Richard that, with its newest document dump from the Iraq campaign, WikiLeaks may have just bolstered one of the Bush administration’s most controversial claims about the Iraq war: that Iran supplied many of the Iraq insurgency’s deadliest weapons and worked hand-in-glove with some of its most lethal militias.
The fact is that Iraq kept a secure border between themselves and their ancient enemy Iran until the USA invaded.
Maybe now the Truth will come out about Bush and Cheney why They started the War in the first place!!!
you americans love your wars. big mistake
iran got involved in iraq because they didn't want "infidel crusaders" from taking over their muslim holy land. so what if it verifies what bush claimed about iran's involvement? we have to see that our occupation of their lands is what's causing all the problems. we must pull our troops out and end the senseless war. there is no end in sight otherwise and only more deaths for our troops and their civlians.
MrHa, I totally agree with you. This was started based on lies from our supposed 'commander and chief', operates on lies as the operational notes suggest, billions of dollars spent on fraudulent no bid contracts (more lies), murdering civilians by mercs. and our military lies about that too, our politicians continue to pump billions of tax dollars into fraudulent infrastructure projects. More lies. I for one support the WikiLeaks releases as an eye opener, sunshine disinfects everything, since Washington does not represent the majority of Americans anymore. They simply ignore the will of the people and the pentagon simply manages to vanish billions of dollars with no explanation all the while lying about the war operations, i.e. the murdering of civilians by 'private merc. companies'. blackwater's prince needs to be in jail. No taxation with representation was the reason we broke from England and now washington has become just like England. Pull out of these wars now.
Americans are so dumb! Paying taxes, to support the US Military Industrial Complex, which is engaged in police actions, not wars. If the US was in a true WAR, we would make SAND PILES out of the Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.
All the US Taxpayer is doing, is "buying into" a fear scheme coming from the US Military Industrial Complex, which has assisted greatly in bankrupting America!
Ahhh - go to Cuba or commie China - you sound like Bennie-boy Cohen (Ben & Jerry;s founder) who wrote an op-ed for someone to attack the USA - wrote it a week before 911. Bin Laden declared war before that and the Butcher of Baghdad could have abided by Desert Storm agreements - and Chirac blocked the last chance not to have an invasion because he was involved with UN food-for-oil bribes.
"commie China"??
We have more laws, more rules, more regulations, more people in jail than China does and they have 3 times our population. If they are "commie" what are we? More laws and more jails does not = more freedom. Supposedly our freedoms made capitalism possible and capitalism made us wealthier than communism. Now we see "commie China" with more freedom and growing at 12+% per year. We have become the communist soviet union of 50 years ago, while "commie China" is now more capitalistic than we are. This crap about our freedoms is just a slogan
China has more than 3 times the US population.
Franko, ever heard of the dumbing of America. You found it hook, line and sinker.
I can not believe you used the Ben Cohen op-ed as an argument. If you would actually read what he wrote you would see that he was writing in protest against the bush increase in military spending, 33 billion if I remember correctly. Almost as if bush knew that war was coming our way. All that was left to do was to find a reason and that too came in the nick of time because we were attacked by saudi arabia and soon there after we invaded Iraq. Wow!
Actually Mike is right on the money. The military industrial complex is running Americans right now because it is where the economy is focused historically whenever there is a recession. It is the way the bankers want thing to be right now, especially the privately held 'federal reserve'.
I hope you meant 'bear' a child otherwise his mother would be boring him. Seem like your education was a bit wasted.
Bomb Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan into the stone age - to hell with them.
How do you bomb people into the stone age when they are living in mud huts and riding donkeys?
The only thing we bombed into the stone age is our own economy. no one from Iraq was involved in 9-11. No from Iran was involved in 9-11, no one from Afghanistan was involved in 9-11, and no one from Pakistan was involved in 9-11. All but one were Saudi's Does that mean if Russia bombs China, then China should attack us? Saudi's were involved in 9-11 so we attack everyone but Saudi Arabia?
The war in Iraq cost us the same as 10,000 One hundred million dollar factories. Economically no different than if we bombed 10,000 of our own factories. And we did this in an area that makes Tijuana look rich? About the only thing that can make our congress look honest is the military.
By the way, what ever happened to that Bin Laden guy? Never even hear his name mentioned anymore, and especially never mentioned by the military. !0,000 of our own factories turned to dust and they are not even trying to find him? Have anybody even heard it mentioned as a goal?
I see $500 per barrel oil if we bomb all those oil countries.
To: MTaS
If you can't contribute a single, shread of valuable research and feasible comments, then don't bother saying anything at all.
Your ignorant remarks, make you a leading candidate to take the place of Timothy Mcveigh.
it ashame that the properganda is aimed at our soldiers and not arabs of iraq. but i remember our soldiers being stripped, dragged, and hung on light poles out there in iraq and your gonna talk about soldiers turning their heads on prisoners. what crap!!!!! and this is the world we live in.
none of it matters, should have just leveled the region and walked away it is what is deserved and what america once stood for. we would have never been where we were w/o hiroshima. now we are as vulnerable as ever
The Chinese would take over the markets of those countries and the markets of their friends if you level all those countries.
Only prison - why not a firing squad? The USA and coalition partner Australia has to come down hard on the arsehole Aussie and all in WikiLeaks.
Hehehe...why?...he's just enjoying freedom of the press. If you want to hang someone, start with the idiots in the Pentagon that allowed this to happen in the first place. See how fast they tighten up their security then.
MtMike, are you an American taxpayer?
Spellcheck? Grammar? Come on people.
Fact Check and geography wouldn't hurt either. Think they could find either Australia or Austria on a map?
why would any one run for goverment ? for office of any kind, when the pay is so little and it cost them 20 mill to get the job/? some one please give me an answer.
Meg has spent $140 million of her own money so far.
people it time to take our country back from thieves!!!!!!!
it not a war it a con-flick
The War in Iraq was a corporate war to put money in the pockets of the Defense industry, including all the unregulated private contractors who were not subject to the rules of engagement. The Energy industry was hoping for a captured oil supply. I think in the end more noncombatants will have been killed by the US Military, US private contractors, and by religious insurgents than in all the years of Saddam's reign. All in the name of money, power and religious intolerance. Our country and our citizens got nothing out of this war but a huge increase in the national debt, and thousands upon thousands dead, including our own sons and daughters. This war is just an illustration of the worldwide decline of civilization due to those same factors - money, power and religious intolerance. Those in power across the globe, whether in government, corporations or religion (including Christianity) have voluntarily relinquished their souls and their conscience. Evil is winning and the future of humanity looks bleak.
Jeremyg: You are so right. There is not one so called Christian leader on tv that hasn't approved this war, inspite of the fact that it was obvious we had no business there. The first Bush invaded Iraq for the emir of kuwait an absolute monarch. But he did have hundreds of billions in our stock market. The second Bush invaded Iraq for his own reasons and probably because Israel wanted it. Of course Halaburton a good Texas company that Chainney headed , made many billions. They are hobnobbing with royalty in Duabi now. America, our country is being destroyed by greed and those we call leaders.
War has never been fruitful for anyone. There is loss from every side either politically, economically and in every way.
Yes, its true that it is always that civilians are get ripped off by both sides.
You should think of the innocent civilians and not your soldier. Because, they have got heavy weapons in their hand, so it is highly likely that they will badger but never a innocent civilian. If you can't stop this civilian loss, there is more likely chance undoubtedly that there will be more enemy. It is not far that whole world will turn against america. So, try to curb the problems as much as possible to save this world.
If you kill one innocent person -- father, son or husband -- their family needs just a spark of revengeful words; they will turn to either suicide killer, because, they first think that their world is finished because, they have lost their family and there is no worth living in this world. This is the common sense, that I am talking about; everybody thinks like that.
So, do not try to correct anyone. Follow the path of buddha and gandhi -- a path of dignity and non-violence.
The media and the people need of the world to stay on this story and follow through. The U.S. has ridden roughshod over the UN and international law for far too long.
I invite you to read my blog post:
WIKILEAKS, IRAQ AND THE PRICE OF TRUTH
http://adrianzupp.blogspot.com/2010/10/wikileaks-iraq-and-price-of-truth.html
Errr...many of us condemn the release BECAUSE it reveals a @!$%# load about the military actions in Iraq. The documents were secret for a reason.
The people at wikileaks need to be hunted down and "taken care of"!!!!!
How dare them tell the TRUTH about what has been going on over there, what our government knew as they hiked out taxes to pay for war, and when they knew it but continued to shovel taxpayer money at it. I mean it not like the policemen and on lookers noticed the US personnel was taking notes, right? I suppose that terrorist know we can send remote control drones after them but wouldn't think question that we would actually have a computer in a humvee? Remember these are logs of how our grandchilderns money was spent because war spending doesn't need to fit into balancing the budget
The Iraqis know that mercenaries have been blowing civilians away with impunity and the puppet government has been torturing people. It was only kept secret from the American people.
What do you now expect from a country where millions of people can't wait for season 3 of 'Jersey Shore' and the 'Jerry Springer Show' just celebrated it's 20th anniversary. I bet that most of the youth of today couldn't even tell you how many branches of the military there are or how many 'Uniformed Services' exist?
War has always been ugly and regardless of how many military codes exist regarding combat, there will always be a few bad apples that are complicit in breaking all the rules at every level of the military. And any country that embroils itself in a war, will be faced with the untenable position of trying to convince the public it can do so without any collateral damage, is just pure insanity.
It would seem that the way the American government handles situation like Iraq and Afghanistan as well as many more in the past the the Amercian people are unaware of could have contributed to the growing ant-American groups.
you all suck
Dear NBC and those of the US that think the GO's, NGO's, IGO's and INGO's are all corrupt and doing things wrong:
Have you ever taken a look at the difference in operational environments between a news casting corporation in a free, democratic country and that of a conglomerate of NGO's, IGO's, INGO's and the US Military working together to reconstitute, re-organize and rebuild a nation that was in war with themselves for decades (who happened to also have terrorists killing their own and ours). When current operational information is leaked- people die. Not just the soldiers over there- but civilians they work with to fix the country. The difference is the decisions made by those working to fix the problems in other countries will affect the thousands, if not millions, of lives of those who are vested, who give their time and even their lives to this cause. Besides their own lives, this will affect the families in that particular country. Once this actually is achieved, this knowledge will also spread to those who see what has happened. So why does the military, the government, and other international organizations (many who are not corrupt) continue to support the struggling organizations and the hopeful government?
For this ideal of a future. Is this unrealistic? Let's give a quick history lesson for those who forget so easily. Rewind to the end of WWII. The countries that made the 'axis' are in shambles. One said country: Germany. In comes the US and a few other IGO's they work to rebuild Germany's infrastructure. Are they successful? Now how often has this happened and how many countries have looked for this alliance and assistance to put their people back on the road to being a productive entity of Earth. While there may be some cases of setbacks; of Iraqi police not following the rules we would like to see, ect. Should we abandon showing them the correct ways? Should we abandon those we are there mentor to do good when they stumble or falter?
Everyone seems to be overlooking the obvious here. Julian Ass-mange has posted CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS on the web. He has put innumerable peoples lives in jeopardy with his reckless behavior.
I await the happy news that he has been apprehended.
On the other hand, if he doesn't make it into custody with a pulse, he certainly had it coming.
Only the far left will boo hoo over the demise of this vermin.
Everyone else will stand up and cheer.
All I know is that SOMEONE (US or Australia) needs to put this loser in his place whether it's prison or the ground.