The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have reacted with predictable shock and dismay to the appearance on the non-profit website WikiLeaks of some 92,000 U.S. military documents on the calamitous war in Afghanistan. Material on the conduct of German, French, and Polish troops — fellow-members of the International Security Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) — is a sort of bonus. The New York Times, the Guardian, and Der Spiegel collaborated in analysing and placing substantial amounts of the information on the Internet, though they have withheld details that are likely to heighten the danger to U.S. troops and their partners. The White House, however, says the leaks might put American lives and those of partners at risk and could threaten national security. The U.K. expresses similar concerns. The documents show that intelligence is unreliable and often unverifiable; that ISAF communications frequently break down; that there are technical problems with equipment, including drone aircraft; and that troops are so frightened of suicide bombers and Taliban collaborators that they have killed hundreds of civilians by shooting and bombing indiscriminately. Furthermore, large numbers of ordinary Afghans fear and hate the foreign troops and are victims of the corruption and brutality that pervade the U.S-backed Hamid Karzai government. Taliban forces, for their part, are increasingly well-trained and adept, and their roadside bombs have killed over 2,000 civilians.
The WikiLeaks exposé has been likened to the 1971 leak of the Pentagon Papers, the contents of which significantly strengthened worldwide opposition to the Vietnam war, and also to the publication of pictures of U.S. torture at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. It turns out that the CIA has its own secret operation to kill suspected Taliban leaders, that incident reports conceal civilian deaths and other failures, and that the U.S. military has covered up the Taliban's acquisition of heat-seeking missiles. Politically speaking, there is deepening international concern that the ISAF presence is not doing anything other than wrecking Afghanistan and strengthening the Taliban. The U.S., in particular, has persistently underestimated the weakness and incompetence of the Afghan government. Therefore, prosecuting anyone found responsible for the leak amounts to nothing more than shooting the messenger. That will address neither the chaos in Afghanistan nor the fact that a war effort that has already cost over $300 billion is totally directionless. The very concept of a victory, military or political, is now completely unintelligible and the official lies about Afghanistan can no longer be sustained.
Keywords: WikiLeaks, U.S. troops, war on terror, NATO, Hamid Karzai, Taliban insurgency, Afghan government
sir, USA like India are a sitting duck for ISI, trained by CIA, but cunning than Raw.USA will be nuked by Pak 60 missiles if it invades pak. ISI will win as they are intelligent, working, backed by oil money. USA is a looser, it allowed Pak to smuggle away Taliban leaders in close of war, sucked UA for billions, got E16s etc, with China can block USA. USA are failures.unless USA fights inside Pak , no win. If USA in Pak, US will be Nuked. So US Generals are for slow war that creates wealth for military contractors. US army,Pak benefit. Afghans are loosers with India,UK< AUSTR, Germany looking foolish.
The leaked docs establish shocking stories to the people of U.S on Pakistan’s ISI interface with Taliban to annihilate U.S forces in Afghanistan! American victory will be a distant dream unless U.S influences Pakistan to reregulate the mindset of those at the helms of affairs in the Pakistan government in a very fundamental way.
The timing of British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to India compelled him to comment on the WikiLeaks confirming the role of ISI indirectly fighting for Taliban. Whether he described Pak as Country, or as a regime while mentioning that "cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world", actually the message must be clear to U.S!
U.S cannot continue its dramas further to cloud-off the imagination of the global journalists as the leaked Pentagon docs clearly revealed the U.S annoyance on the Pakistan’s ambiguous policies towards terrorism while depending on its war against militia in Afghanistan. U.S cannot conceal the double-standards of Pakistan that fights against certain extremists and simultaneously harbouring others. It is high time that U.S diplomats should deviate from the current approach of complimenting Pakistan as its unwavering ally in fighting at Afghanistan.
U.S cannot be unworried as the collaboration of the terror network in Afghanistan with local insurgent groups in Afghan-Pak boarder are so active while housing training camps that are full-grown by expediently adapting into small and mobile clusters to get ignored by security forces. U.S had been depending on Pakistan right from the day the reports on these camps captured news headlines since last year though the U.S investigators had probed the accused New York terror suspect Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan expatriate who had fled to Pakistan and camped at Peshawar in the North-West frontier for undergoing training on weapons and explosives. The latest U.S trepidation relates to the Pak involvement of terror attacks targeting America and England as per the indictment by the DoJ (Dept. of Justice).
India is in a perennial security issue that is entangled into with Pakistan, the epic-centre of the terrorism in the world. India could not send any signal to the U.S administration on the threat of deceitfulness while depending on Pakistan to eliminate terrorism in Afghan or Afghan-Pak boarder. The main constraint in Pakistan will be the reluctance to look at terrorism at the level global perspective much beyond the warmth of religious doctrines or regional pressures, in all strata of society or regime.
We in India know that Pakistan can never succeed to shut down terror groups. Will U.S stop believing Pakistan beyond its limits? Why no tactics of international politics and diplomacy could win terrorists burgeoning out of Pakistan soil one after the other? The fact is that Terror kingpins are privileged to get security cover and even honored by the Political democracy including Legislature, Executive and judiciary, which are under the clemency of joint consortiums of military and mafia.
It is ironical that the episode of Pentagon leak had happened at this time when U.S is in the process of empowering Pakistan with massive arms aid presumably for combating terrorism! Real disgrace to U.S! This sort of total prejudice and absurdity is to be condemned by the global communities.
It is very pity that India could not even react forcefully. Instead took it lightly by the Defense Minister A.K.Antony and expressed concerns of the nation while exchanging pleasantries with the visiting U.S Chairman of Joint Chief of Staffs- Admiral Mike Mullen. This lopsided U.S aid to Pakistan towards the defenselessness to the fear of Taliban attacks will have an easy mishandling against India! The very purpose signing a comprehensive counter-terror initiative between India and U.S will go in vain.
You write that because of the leaks, "the official lies about Afghanistan can no longer be sustained."
But these leaks are about a four-year period prior to Obama's review in 2009. After that review, the U.S. government said openly that the war was not going well, and for that reason, a new strategy would be implemented. So the leaks don't add anything new and certainly don't show any significant "official lies". They only add details to what we already know: that the Pakistan army is sustaining the Taliban, that the U.S. ignored Afghanistan from 2003 to 2009, and that many Afghan civilians have been killed in the war.
Your editorial takes it for granted that the U.S. mission is a failure, and then makes up facts to support that view. A very poor analysis.
It is ironical that US,the snake charmer is embarrassed enough on how to tame its both pets( Taliban & Pakistan) having become so much ferocious that the peace in south asia has become elusive. It is definitely an issue of concern for India. Western powers(US in particular) are only to blame for the present crisis.Why the rest of the world has become a mute spectator even after the gory incidents at Guantanamo Bay and then in Iraq. The role of the UN is nullified. First
& foremost US should stop funding Pakistan,a war monger.
U.S cannot continue its dramas further to cloud-off the imagination of the global journalists while the leaked Pentagon docs clearly revealed the U.S annoyance on the Pakistan’s ambiguous policies towards terrorism while depending on its war against militia in Afghanistan. U.S cannot conceal the double-standards of Pakistan that fights against certain extremists and simultaneously harbouring others. It is high time that U.S diplomats should deviate from the current approach of complimenting Pakistan as its unwavering ally in fighting at Afghanistan.
The leaked docs establish shocking stories to the people of U.S on Pakistan’s ISI interface with Taliban to annihilate U.S forces in Afghanistan! American victory will be a distant dream unless U.S influences Pakistan to reregulate the mindset of those at the helms of affairs in the Pakistan government in a very fundamental way.
The timing of British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit compelled him to comment on the WikiLeaks confirming the role of ISI indirectly fighting for Taliban. Whether he described Pak as Country, or as a regime while mentioning that "cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world", actually the message must be clear to U.S!
U.S cannot be unworried as the collaboration of the terror network in Afghanistan with local insurgent groups in Afghan-Pak boarder are so active while housing training camps that are full-grown by expediently adapting into small and mobile clusters to get ignored by security forces. U.S had been depending on Pakistan right from the day the reports on these camps captured news headlines since last year though the U.S investigators had probed the accused New York terror suspect Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan expatriate who had fled to Pakistan and camped at Peshawar in the North-West frontier for undergoing training on weapons and explosives. The latest U.S trepidation relates to the Pak involvement of terror attacks targeting America and England as per the indictment by the DoJ (Dept. of Justice).
India is in a perennial security issue that is entangled into with Pakistan, the epic-centre of the terrorism in the world. India could not send any signal to the U.S administration on the threat of deceitfulness while depending Pakistan to eliminate terrorism in Afghan or Afgan-pak boarder. The main constraint in Pakistan will be the reluctance to look at terrorism at the level global perspective much beyond the warmth of religious doctrines or regional pressures, in all strata of society or regime.
We in India know that Pakistan can never succeed to shut down terror groups. Will U.S stop believing Pakistan beyond its limits? Why no tactics of international politics and diplomacy could win terrorists burgeoning out of Pakistan soil one after the other? The fact is that Terror kingpins are privileged to get security cover and even honored by the Political democracy including Legislature, Executive and judiciary, which are under the clemency of joint consortiums of military and mafia.
It is ironical that the episode of Pentagan leak had happened at this time when U.S is in the process of empowering Pakistan with massive arms aid presumably for combating terrorism! Real disgrace to U.S! This sort of total prejudice and absurdity is to be condemned by the global communities.
It is very pity that India could not even react forcefully. Instead took it lightly by the Defense Minister A.K.Antony and expressed concerns of the nation while exchanging pleasantries with the visiting U.S Chairman of Joint Chief of Staffs- Admiral Mike Mullen. This lopsided U.S aid to Pakistan towards the defenselessness to the fear of Taliban attacks will have an easy mishandling against India! The very purpose signing a comprehensive counter-terror initiative between India and U.S will go in vain.
You are supposed to be supporting the US against Pakistan, which is revealed to be a duplicitous ally (to say the least!)in the documents. Why no mention of this? Poor strategic thinking from the Hindu editorial staff.
What the leaks again illustrate vividly is that the British and US governments (just like governments around the globe) are constitutionally incapable of ever speaking the truth! That is the first lesson any member of any society has to learn!!
yes worse it is. but still the only way forward what US and International troops are trying to do because once they pull back it will became sancturies for taliban to operate from there and that will became unberable.world needs to support US for better world yes pressure needs to be putted on human right voilation.unless world will not put pressure on pakistan for there double game and there self destructive policy it is very difficuly to win war there.
Although the material does not reveal anything new the beauty of the documents leaked at wikileaks is that it gave the hawks on every side more corroborating matter to support their arguments. Civilian killings to the Islamists, and ISI role to the westerns/Indians.
Sir,
Your editorial on the implications of the Afghan war leaks sounds rather skewed.
That the International force is working against great odds,is to state the obvious.So,the collateral damage is more than expected.But,which war hasn't these collateral damages?
Your comment on the Taliban has a ring of awe to their actions and capabilities.Do we have any comparable leaks on the number of civilians killed by their road side bombs and more bizarre methods? Why is their so called statistics given a gloss over?
US has to be regretting for giving birth to the Taliban in the first place along with the midwife, Pakistan. Obviously, it is the midwife who must be having the last laugh, for it has the most resourceful army to export an unequal war to both sides of its border.
We,in India are just part of the collateral damages.
The Obama administration and the UN will have to consider how Pakistan is to be ever trusted as an ally in this war against the Taliban. Of immediate importance is a review of U.S. relations with Pakistan, in view of the ISI duplicity. The Government of Pakistan can not be trusted to be a loyal partner in Afghanistan.
I don't know what US forces are doing there from so many years.People look at the aftermath but in this case they are not in favour.
It is surprising (given your anti-USA stance) that you have not called for complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Afganistan. Once these forces are out then the field can be cleared for many more hijacking of Indian air planes like earlier (infamous)Kanadhar.
Afghan victory by US and its allies is now a distant dream. India's interest is at stake. The fallout of this defeat will be serious in the sense that Taliban and Pak will become more powerful in Hindukush and they will threaten India's security. Kashmir will be their first target and then Punjab/Rajasthan and Gujrat have to bear the burnt of this US mismatch.
A weak India ruled by corrupt beorocracy cannot mitigate the problem that the Indian Nation will face in the next few years because of this fallout of US and stregthening of Taliban-Pak forces.
China on the northern border will keenly watch this development.
India stands cornered.
It cannot be and will not be an easy task for a weak India.
They have wasted $300 billion to just sit there and kill thousands of civilians just because they're frightened. They surely don't look like soldiers to me. However, considering the fact that destroying Taliban is main aim of the US government, it doesn't look like they have succeeded a single per cent in their mission so far in 10 years. Instead they have ruined the society Afghanistan, and yet they're still supporting, which should have aborted years ago, so called anti- terrorist mission. We clearly see the motive of the US Government in here and yes, we're not expecting them to do any better on the issue.
The experience of the US and its allies in Afghanistan is no different from that of all foreign powers which had invaded that country from the time of Alexander the Great. The lesson that all of them learned was that Afghanistan can be invaded, but cannot be annexed and administered by the invader. The knee-jerk reaction of President Bush to the 9/11 terrorist attack on the US, then applauded by a shocked world, has come a cropper.The perpetrators of 9/11 attack and their supporters are still alive and kicking. The invaders do not know where to go. Afghanistan thus continues to be an enigma.
Although it is nothing new how come there is no mention of Pak duplicity in your editorial.
What the leaks also, and repeatedly, show is the support that Afghan groups have received from military and intelligence personnel in Pakistan. The continued financial and political support that the US has given successive generations of administrators in Pakistan despite such clear evidence defies reason.
Please Email the Editor