Former Pakistani Spy Chief Hamid Gul , Pakistani Nuclear Scientist Dr.AQ Khan Responds to Wiki Leaks Allegations
WikiLeaks began releasing thousands of classified U.S. State Department documents Sunday. The documents contain information that is being condemned as “reckless and dangerous” and some worry this will affect international relations.
The documents expose confidential American diplomatic cables revealing back-room bargaining at embassies, assessments of terrorist and nuclear threats and frank, unflattering views of foreign leaders.
Publications such as the New York Times and Britain’s The Guardian received the documents beforehand so reporters could analyze the information. The newspapers began publishing stories based on the leaks Sunday. Topics covered included a 2007 standoff with Pakistan over nuclear fuel, a U.S. spying campaign on United Nations leadership, suspicions of corruption within the Afghan government, bargaining to empty Guantanamo Bay prison, plans for uniting South and North Korea, and Saudi Arabian King Abdullah “frequently” urging the U.S. to attack Iran to destroy Iran’s nuclear program.
International reaction and response to the leaks is growing. The Pentagon announced Sunday that it has changed procedures to make it harder to steal secrets. Presidential Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama wants transparency in government but called WikiLeaks’ actions “a risk.”
“By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals,” Gibbs told the Associated Press. “We condemn the strongest terms of unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information.”
Gibbs also said the cables contained incomplete information that didn’t express policy and didn’t influence decisions. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office joined the United States in the condemnation while the countries issued statements defending their political decisions. On Monday Pakistani officials defended their stance to deny the United States access to the nuclear research reactor in question.
WikiLeaks will release its 251,287 cables in a gradual manner, reviewing them with media partners. The cables date from late December 1966 to February 2010 and contain communications between the State Department and 274 embassies. The documents are marked unclassified, confidential and secret. None of them are top secret. A post on the WikiLeaks website claimed that no one has been harmed by any disclosures made during the four-year year publishing history of the whistle blowing group.
“These cables, by giving the players an unvarnished description of how they are seen, there will be a common ground on which to effectively negotiate peace and stability,” wrote one WikiLeaks member. “We do not see this as a risk to destabilisation, but an opportunity for stabilisation and reform in the Middle East.”
WikiLeaks writers said they asked the UD State Department officials to review the documents with them so they would know who would be put at risk by the publication but that State Department Legal Advisor Harold Hongju Koh wrote back saying the Obama administration wouldn’t negotiate with efforts to release classified materials. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to address the leaks Monday as she embarked on a four nation tour of Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
News organizations worked with WikiLeaks in taking precautions before unveiling the stories and The New York Times reported that WikiLeaks redacted some of the cables to protect diplomatic sources. The New York Times also advised the U.S. State Department about when it received the documents and both the New York Times and Guardian excluded information they felt could jeopardize individuals.
WikiLeaks does not reveal its sources, but authorities allege Army intelligence analyst Pfc. Bradley Manning gave the documents to WikiLeaks. Manning has been charged with illegally leaking information and faces a possible court martial and a long prison sentence if convicted. Earlier this year WikiLeaks released documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a video of civilian killings in Iraq.
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