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WikiLeaks, the “Afghan War Diary,” and the “Iraq War Log”

Later in November 2010, the administration was stung by the third major release that year of classified documents by the Web site WikiLeaks. In July and October several periodicals, including The New York Times, Der Spiegel, and The Guardian, had published secret documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, collectively known as the “Afghan War Diary” and the “Iraq War Log,” respectively. In both cases, the material was mainly in the form of raw intelligence gathered between 2004 and 2009. In general, the information added detail but few new revelations to what was already known and did not radically change the public understanding of either war. Nevertheless, the Obama administration condemned its release as a security breach that would set back U.S. efforts in the region and endanger the lives of military personnel and the lives of Iraqis and Afghans who had cooperated with the U.S. military. The administration was also quick to criticize WikiLeaks’ November release of documents, this time comprising some 250,000 diplomatic cables between the U.S. State Department and its embassies and consulates throughout the world, dating mostly from 2007 to 2010 but including some dating back as far as 1966. Among the wide-ranging topics covered in these secret documents were behind-the-scenes U.S. efforts to politically and economically isolate Iran, primarily in response to fears of Iran’s development of nuclear weapons—fears that were revealed to encompass Saudi Arabia’s and Bahrain’s emphatic opposition to a nuclear-armed Iran.

WikiLeaks; Assange, JulianWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at a press conference, 2010.Andrew Winning—Reuters/Landov