Assessing the WikiLeaks Damage
FrumForum spoke to former members of the intelligence community about the incalculable damage caused by the Wikileaks release of classified Pentagon documents.
The WikiLeaks website, founded by Julian Assange, released approximately 90,000 classified Pentagon intelligence documents. Both Admiral Mullen and Secretary of Defense Gates have stated that in releasing these documents both the leaker and publisher “have on their hands the blood of some young solider or that of an Afghan family.” FrumForum interviewed former military and intelligence officials to get their opinion on the damage done by these leaks.
Michael Hayden, former CIA Director, commented that “Mike Mullen is straight on. This is the kind of stuff that gets people killed. They are identifying people who cooperated with us, even marginally. I can’t imagine how this won’t lead either directly or indirectly to a loss of life.”
The leaks also gave away the operational playbook. Hayden again: “this is the stuff armies train against. Information is revealed and the system is revealed. You can derive information about response time, reporting changes, rules of engagement, and a whole variety of strategy that the enemy can now pick up on and use to their advantage.” A former CIA operative stated that “the bad guys are already good at modifying their m.o. to counter our moves; this just makes it easier for them.”
Hayden also had a question for Assange, “these leaks make it easier for us to work with the Pakistanis because…?” He explained that other intelligence organizations with sources and information will not want to work with Americans because “they believe we can’t keep secrets and will question the confidentiality of their exchanges with us.”
Former CIA Director James Woolsey warned that this disclosure might deter Afghans from cooperating in the future with the U.S. against the Taliban. In referring to Assange’s recent quote in a German newspaper that “I enjoy crushing bastards,” he pointed out that “the question that Mr. Assange should be asked is whether little Afghan girls walking to school are bastards? Is acid being thrown in their faces the type of crushing he is supporting?”
Woolsey summed it up when he stated that the release of these classified documents had dire consequences to America’s national security. Furthermore, he sarcastically noted that “if you release documents that have people’s names in them you have to be really, really stupid not to realize that you are participating in getting these people killed. If Assange didn’t intend for soldiers and Afghans getting killed then he is completely incapable of reasoning about the consequences of his actions.”