A story of the everyday squalor of war
Francis Sedgemore, Monday 26 July 2010 at 13:31 UTC
As someone who supports the international military involvement in Afghanistan, one might expect me to agree with the US government’s denunciation of the leaking of some 90,000 documents relating to the war. These include details of so far unreported civilian deaths, and claims that Pakistan and Iran are aiding the Taliban.
“The real story of this material is that it’s war – it’s one damn thing after another,” says Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. “It is the continuous small events, the continuous deaths of children, insurgents, allied forces, the maimed people. Search for the word ‘amputation’ in this material, or ‘amputee’, and there are dozens and dozens of references.”
This is a complex ethical issue, and I generally support Wikileaks, even if the motives of those providing the whistleblowing website with classified information are less than pure, as I’m sure they occasionally are, human nature being what it is.
As Julian Assange says, there is a story to be told here, and the war in Afghanistan is not being reported honestly and accurately by our political and military leaders. Given the real and continued suffering of the Afghan people, those fighting on the ground, and their families and friends at home, the official glibness is offensive in the extreme.
Wikileaks may not always get it right, and one should criticise the leaking of operational details that could further endanger lives. But when it comes to the material currently under discussion, it is political embarrassment that the US and allied governments are most concerned about.
As for the material just released into the public domain, given the amount of journalistic research and cross-checking carried out during an embargo period before the documents were published, we can be reasonably sure of their authenticity, if not the veracity of the claims made in them. Military intelligence is after all a very dark art, and in this case some of the actors have a history of lying and dissembling.
Feed the writer! 
Monday 26 July 2010 at 13:32 UTC
[...] No scientific reportage, political comment or satire today. Instead something domestic, and possibly far more interesting. [...]
Monday 26 July 2010 at 20:50 UTC
[Comment rescued from overzealous SPAM filter. Ed.]
“As someone who supports the international military involvement in Afghanistan, one might expect me to agree with the US government’s denunciation of the leaking of some 90,000 documents relating to the war.”
No, but I’d expect you to reconsider your support. I assume the US will leave sometime in 2011, and other countries will do the same. Will Afghanistan be better off?
Thursday 29 July 2010 at 11:02 UTC
Dom – If the Afghan government stabilises, and its security forces are able to cope with only minimal support from a residual international military force, then yes, the country will be better off. The alternative would have been the continued rule of the entire country by a bunch of murdering theocrats who treat women like cattle.
My problem is with the way in which the war against the Taliban has been prosecuted, and the fact that political considerations in the US and Europe are now dictating the fate of Afghan people. To me that’s an abdication of moral responsibility. And now, to make matters worse, we Brits have a prime minister jetting around the world, cuddling up to dodgy political leaders such as Turkish PM Tayyip Erdoğan in the hope of new trade orders for UK companies.
Whither Britain’s “ethical foreign policy”? David Cameron is a fucking disgrace, and trade secretary Vince Cable should be ashamed of himself for playing sidekick on these foreign jaunts to his morally challenged boss.
Thursday 29 July 2010 at 11:36 UTC
“…cuddling up to dodgy political leaders such as Turkish PM Tayyip Erdoğan…”
…who today was praised by The Guardian in an editorial the logic of which I fail to follow.
It would seem that I’m not alone in this regard.
Thursday 29 July 2010 at 14:47 UTC
“The alternative would have been the continued rule of the entire country by a bunch of murdering theocrats who treat women like cattle.”
That is a slur on decent, compassionate dairy and beef farmers the world over.
Thursday 29 July 2010 at 14:49 UTC
I apologise for any offence caused.
Thursday 29 July 2010 at 19:45 UTC
[...] few days following WikiLeaks’ publishing of over 90,000 classified documents relating to the war in Afghanistan, we learn that some of the leaked files contain the names of [...]