A whistleblower leaked tens of thousands of secret military files on the Afghan war Monday, documenting the deaths of innocent civilians and how Pakistan's spy agency secretly supports the Taliban. The White House, Britain and Pakistan have all condemned the online release Sunday of the classified documents, one of the largest unauthorized disclosures in military history. The Afghan government in Kabul said it was “shocked” at the release but insisted most of the information was not new. Pakistan denounced the leaked reports as “skewed” and inconsistent with realities on the ground, and the White House said they put the lives of soldiers at risk, but the man behind the revelations said the controversy vindicated the decision to break cover. Julian Assange of Wikileaks used a press conference in London Monday to dismiss the White House's furious reaction to the disclosures. “We're familiar with groups whose abuse we expose attempting to criticise the messenger,” Assange said. “We don't see any difference in the White House response to this case”. Assange also defended the sourcing and reliability of the documents. “Just like any dealing with any source, you should exercise some common sense -- that doesn't mean that you should close your eyes,” Assange said. “We have no reason to doubt the reliability of these documents”. In all, some 92,000 documents dating back to 2004 were released by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks to the New York Times, Britain's Guardian newspaper and Germany's Der Spiegel. They carry allegations that Iran is providing money and arms to Taliban insurgents, and details how widespread corruption is hampering a war now in its ninth year. The most controversial allegations center around claims that Pakistan, a key US ally, allows its spies to meet directly with the Taliban. According to the Times, Pakistan agents and Taliban representatives meet regularly “in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders.” Assange told reporters that what's been reported so far on the leaked documents has “only scratched the surface” and said some 15,000 files on Afghanistan are still being vetted by his organization. He said he believed that “thousands” of US attacks in Afghanistan could be investigated for evidence of war crimes, although he acknowledged that such claims would have to be tested in court. Assange pointed in particular to a deadly missile strike ordered by Taskforce 373, a unit allegedly charged with hunting down and killing senior Taliban targets. He said there was also evidence of cover-ups when civilians were killed. White House national security adviser Gen. Jim Jones said the release of the documents “put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk.”
