perseus
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The Guardian, the New York Times and Der Spiegel have published a huge cache of secret military files from the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, detailing the war in Afghanistan.
Each of the news organisations has a slightly different take on the files.
For the Guardian the files reveal the futility of the conflict and the current strategy.
Der Spiegel says:
The New York Times focuses on what the documents reveal about the role of Pakistan's security service in directing the Afghan insurgency.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/jul/26/afghanistan-war-logs-wikileaks
Each of the news organisations has a slightly different take on the files.
For the Guardian the files reveal the futility of the conflict and the current strategy.
However you cut it, this is not an Afghanistan that either the US or Britain is about to hand over gift-wrapped with pink ribbons to a sovereign national government in Kabul. Quite the contrary. After nine years of warfare, the chaos threatens to overwhelm. A war fought ostensibly for the hearts and minds of Afghans cannot be won like this.
Der Spiegel says:
"Never before has it been possible to compare the reality on the battlefield in such a detailed manner with what the US Army propaganda machinery is propagating."
It adds that they show "The German army was clueless and naïve when it stumbled into the conflict."
The New York Times focuses on what the documents reveal about the role of Pakistan's security service in directing the Afghan insurgency.
"The documents suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban 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," its top stoy on the leaks says.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/jul/26/afghanistan-war-logs-wikileaks