Geo436.com blog: Pentagon fears Wikileaks has more secret files

Geo436 WASHINGTON: The Pentagon believes WikiLeaks likely has more secret government documents in its hands, beyond those the website has already released or mentioned publicly, a spokesman said Tuesday.

“We have reason to believe they have other documents as well,” Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters, without elaborating.

WikiLeaks, which portrays itself as a whistle-blowing media outlet, released last week an unprecedented 400,000 classified US documents on the Iraq war, and in July posted 77,000 secret US files on the Afghan conflict.

WikiLeaks has said it still has 15,000 documents and video on Afghanistan in its possession.

Media reports have also speculated that the website has tens of thousands State Department cables, but WikiLeaks has denies this.

WikiLeaks and the Pentagon have been engaged in a war of words over the website”s dump of secret military files, with US officials accusing the organization of endangering the lives of troops and civilians who worked with US-led forces.

WikiLeaks argues the release of the documents has shed light on the wars, including alleged widespread torture by Iraqi forces and reports that suggested 15,000 additional civilian deaths in the Iraq conflict.

Although US officials condemned WikiLeaks as jeopardizing the security of its troops, Australia said Tuesday that the release of documents in July had not hampered its operations in Afghanistan.