Comments on: Wikileaks on Afghanistan

By: Denisha Kowis

Denisha Kowis — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:46:14 +0000

apparently the term “cables” is back in vogue relating to wikileaks. Do people really still send “cables” aren’t they just “emails”?

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:34:48 +0000

One of the results of such leaks is the deaths of some of those who helped us and the future reluctance of others to help us.
Feature or bug?
You decide.

By: expat

expat — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:47:29 +0000

Speaking of Kerry, he can’t even figure out how his new foreign-built untaxed yacht would play with his constituents. I’m pretty sure he couldn’t read the minds of foreign foes. At some point, even Harvard profs should be able to figure out they are represented by a moron.

By: J.J. formerly Jimmy J.

J.J. formerly Jimmy J. — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:00:07 +0000

Tom, Vietnam was a failure because our leaders lost their nerve or did not recognize the seriousness of the threat that communism presented. It took a leader like Reagan who was willing to name the enemy and stand up to them to bring the USSR down. Unfortunately, communism did not die with the USSR. It is still alive and well in too many places around the world.

Our disgraceful desertion of South Vietnam was brought about by those such as Kerry, Jane Fonda, Congressional lefties, and the nattering nabobs of negativity in the media. Too many of those people are still doing their work undermining our ability to defend ourselves. They have also been willing to forget that which you mentioned, the slaughter of 2,270,000 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos after the war ended. For more data about the death toll of cummunism and other absolutist governments from 1900 to 1998 see this:
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/WSJ.ART.HTM
Very sobering reading.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:58:14 +0000

I despise terming Vietnam a failure, a defeat. It was the Democratic Congress that lost it; nay, gave it away to the butchers and caused the loss of so many good lives and untold suffering for the “re-educated” and the dislocated. Kerry, Dodd and other responsibles continue to “lead us” today. The corruptocrat Ruling Class.

By: Artfldgr

Artfldgr — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:57:10 +0000

Wikileaks documents: N. Korea sold missiles to al-Qaeda, Taliban

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/07/wiki_n_korea_sold_rockets_to_a.html#more

and who runs the Norks?

same old same old…

By: J.J. formerly Jimmy J.

J.J. formerly Jimmy J. — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:53:32 +0000

During Vietnam I had a Top Secret clearance and had to read the Top Secret message board each day. It surprised me that many of the things I read that were classified TS, would show up in the Stars and Stripes newspaper or Time and Newsweek. From that experience I learned that too many things were classified TS.

I agree with IgotBupkis who said, “99% of what’s “classified” is classified because some idiot was within reach of a stamp that said “classified”. Had the stamp been in another room, it wouldn’t be “classified” info at all.”

Much of this dump (the corruption of the Afghanis, the double dealing of the Pakis, etc.) was known by anyone who was reading the milbloggers or Col. Ralph Peterson. I knew when Obama named Afghanistan as the “good War” that he had no idea of the difficulties there. Transforming Afghanistan into a stable, peaceful nation is several orders of magnitude more difficult than Iraq.

Afghanistan can be roughly compared to Vietnam. We have committed to a task that will require far more wllingness to either be ruthless or commit to years of blood, money, sweat, and tears to achieve the transfromation that we desire. We succeeded in doing just that in South Korea but failed in Vietnam. Since Vietnam we have lost our will to prevail in wars because we insist on trying to fight them with one hand tied behind our backs.

COIN, IMO can work. The problem is it just takes a whole lot of time, money, and bloodshed. This nation’s political system does not lend itself well to prosecuting war in that fashion. This intel dump shows just one more reason why that’s true.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:24:31 +0000

It’s real simple: All gov’ts have secrets, need secrecy. Yep, that secrecy can be abused, but to not protect secrets means zero secrecy. Which leaves the decision on whether or not, and how, to report is left in the hands of the Jornolists. That is not where I want to go. We need an OSA.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:54:57 +0000

I’m not paranoid enough (yet) to believe the administration leaked the information, but I smell a rat in that the criticism–if you can call it that–has been milquetoast soft. It serves Obama well to have a media buzz that doesn’t provide intelligence to our enemies but instead causes fear of another Vietnam-style quagmire and a rush to get the hell out. As in the case of Vietnam, the skids will be greased to literally throw our allies under the bus by later denying them aid to resist a takeover by the Taliban. Will Wikileaks be around to document the torture and beheadings of Afghans foolish enough to remain behind after the US leaves? Of course not!

By: jhankey

jhankey — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:43:20 +0000

In the past I was invovled in the intel field. I had to sign many agreements that clearly delineated the laws and punishments I was subject to for any breach of security. They will burn a low level idiot ( PFC Manning, formerly Specialist 4th class), but never a political big fish.
What is strange to me is thetype of material released. Most of it is the stuff Manning would see working maybe in a brigade level or above military intel shop. It’s the “State Department cables” that is odd. How would he obtain those? That should be a discrete channel of communications.