WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House denounced a massive leak of secret military files that allegedly describe how Pakistan's spy service aids the Afghan insurgency,
but said the information was no surprise.
In all, some 92,000 documents were released by the web
vibram five fingers shoes whistleblower Wikileaks, containing previously untold details of the Afghan war
through Pentagon files and field reports spanning from 2004 to 2010.
According to the New York Times, one of the first three media outlets to review and report on the leaks, they "suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its
spy service to meet directly with the Taliban."
Britain's Guardian newspaper said the files, many of which detail growing numbers of civilians dying at the hands of international forces as well as the Taliban, painted "a devastating portrait of the
failing war in Afghanistan."
The White House issued its condemnation shortly before the leaks were posted online, saying the information could endanger US lives but also pointing to the administration's long-held doubts about links
between Pakistan intelligence agents and
ed hardy t-shirts Afghan insurgents.
"The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national
security," said White House National Security Advisor James Jones.
"These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and
Pakistani people."
The White House also released a series of remarks made in the past by top officials expressing their concern about links between Pakistan spy services and militants in Afghanistan.
Among them was one from Defense Secretary Robert Gates dated March 31, 2009: "The ISI's contacts with [extremist groups] are a real concern to us, and we have made these concerns known directly to the
Pakistanis," referring to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency.
The New York Times said it, along with the
masai Guardian and the German magazine Der Spiegel, had received the leaked material several weeks ago from Wikileaks,
a secretive web organization that often publishes classified material.
The source of leak was unknown.
The last person suspected of providing classified material to the outlet is an American soldier who has been charged with two counts of misconduct for allegedly providing video footage of a US Apache
helicopter strike in Iraq in which around a dozen people were gunned down in broad daylight.
Describing "secret strategy sessions," the Times said Pakistan spy services "organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate
Afghan leaders."
The Times added that "much of the
air jordan 2010 information -- raw intelligence and threat assessments gathered from the field in Afghanistan -- cannot be verified and
likely comes from sources aligned with Afghan intelligence, which considers Pakistan an enemy, and paid informants."
In one of the documents, Pakistan's former ISI spy chief Hamid Gul is described at a January 2009 meeting with a group of insurgents following the death by CIA drone attack of a leader of Al-Qaeda operations
in Pakistan named Zamarai, also known as Osama al-Kini.
"The meeting attendees were saddened by the news of Zamarai's death and discussed plans to complete Zamarai's last mission by facilitating the movement of a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device
from Pakistan to Afghanistan through the Khan Pass," it said.
The Times noted that it was unclear whether the attack ever took place, and said that despite the official end of Gul's tenure at the ISI in 1989, "General Gul is mentioned so many times in the reports, if
they are to be believed, that it seems unlikely that Pakistan?s current military and intelligence officials could not know of at least some of his wide-ranging activities."
Pakistan's ambassador to the
cheap vibram shoes United States, Husain Haqqani, denounced the leaks saying they consisted of "unprocessed" reports from the field
that "do not reflect the current onground realities."
Jones, who did not address the veracity of the information contained in the leaks, said that the documents mainly cover the time period of January 2004 to December 2009, when former president George W. Bush
was in office.
He pointed out that President Barack Obama on December 1, 2009 announced a new strategy that boosted resources for Afghanistan, and put increased focus on Al-Qaeda and Taliban safe-havens in Pakistan.
"This shift in strategy addressed challenges in Afghanistan that were the subject of an exhaustive policy review last fall," Jones said.
A US official who asked not to be named added: "I don't think anyone who follows this issue will find it surprising that there are concerns about ISI and safe havens in Pakistan.
"Some of the disconcerting things reported
ed hardy swimwear are exactly why the president ordered a three month policy review and a change in
strategy," the official said, adding: "Wikileaks is not an objective news outlet but rather an organization that opposes US policy in Afghanistan."
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