Pentagon officials say they are sifting through 15,000 classified Afghanistan war documents for sensitive material that could harm troops or civilians--documents they believe the on-line site WikiLeaks has obtained and might disclose. The records at issue contain material that is "potentially more explosive, more sensitive" than the information in the 77,000 Afghanistan field reports and assessments WikiLeaks put on-line last month in an effort to shed light on the U.S. military's war in Afghanistan, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
A task force of more than 100 intelligence analysts have been sifting "around the clock" through all 91,000 records, looking for hundreds of key words, including the names of Afghan citizens, mosques and allies, in an effort to evaluate the danger caused by exposure, he said. "We have found many instances in which our allies or their forces are mentioned in these documents," and the U.S. military has then notified them as the case warrants, he said.
WikiLeaks posted the Afghan War Diaries in a database 17 days ago.
"We have yet to see any harm come to anyone in Afghanistan that we can directly tie to exposure in the WikiLeaks documents," Morrell said. But, he asserted, "there is in all likelihood a lag between exposure of these documents and jeopardy in the field."
A WikiLeaks spokesman, Daniel Schmitt, told the Daily Beast blog last week that WikiLeaks would like the Pentagon to assist it in reviewing the 15,000 records to determine what material should be withheld to protect innocent civilians from harm.
Morrell said: "We are as easy to find as any organization in the world. If you're serious about wanting to work with us, contact us directly."
