The United States Army in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) October 2001-September 2005. A top Taliban official told reporters in February 2022 that Taliban fighters had captured roughly 61,000 military vehicles and 26,000 heavy weapons in the final days of the Afghanistan war, according to Al Jazeera. Julian Assange stated, "Our whole system is designed such that we don't have to keep that secret". Afghanistan war crime allegations prompted US warnings about ... The document indicates that the United States wanted Canada to put pressure on Saudi Arabia and South Africa, where the United States believed Taliban fundraising was taking place. The New York Times described the war logs as "a six-year archive of classified military documents [that] offers an unvarnished and grim picture of the Afghan war". We don't do that, we verify documents." The work focuses on Army operations in the larger Joint and Coalition campaign that evolved between October 2001 and September 2005. News", "WikiLeaks and Pentagon Disagree About Talks", "Pentagon Tells WikiLeaks Lawyer It Won't Help 'Sanitize' Documents", "WikiLeaks: Pentagon ready to discuss Afghan files", "WikiLeaks Lawyer Says Pentagon Given Access to Unpublished Secret Documents", "Mississippi Lawyer Drawn Into WikiLeaks Intrigue", "Washington condemns leak of Afghan war files", "Wikileaks is a website without an agenda, says Julian Assange. The New York Times reported that the documents reveal the Taliban have used heat-seeking missiles to down coalition aircraft. News reports place the death toll at 85 — mostly girls — and Helvey said it looked like the work of ISIS-Khorasan Province. Fort Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute Press US Combined Arms Center, May 2010. Locals, however, reported that up to 300 civilians had died. [85], On 6 August 2010, U.S. military authorities urged Wikileaks to return the already published 70,000 documents, and the other 15,000 records the website was expected to post soon as well, which contained sensitive details of Afghans who had assisted ISAF forces. [1] [2] The logs consist of over 91,000 [3] Afghan War documents, covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009. A letter from the Department of Defence general counsel said that "it is the view of the Department of Defence that WikiLeaks obtained this material in circumstances that constitute a violation of US law, and that as long as WikiLeaks holds this material, the violation of the law is ongoing. Daniel Markey, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations and former South Asia analyst for the Bush administration, said, Whether WikiLeaks uncovered anything new isn't actually important – it's on the front page of every newspaper in the country; the media is now focused on Afghanistan, and that makes it a big deal. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . The deadly strike happened days after a terror attack at Kabul airport, amid a frenzied evacuation effort following the Taliban's sudden return to power. One document refers to supplying pre-made content to a radio station, describing that content as psychological operations/psychological warfare (PSYOP) material. Deciding whether to publish secret information is always difficult, and after weighing the risks and public interest, we sometimes chose not to publish. [66] However, a letter, written by General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Jeh Charles Johnson, in reply to WikiLeaks' attorney, Timothy Matusheski, was later released (either by the Department of Defense or WikiLeaks[67]), in which Johnson identified the names of Afghan informants as 'sensitive items' but, in keeping with Bryan Whitman's later public statement, stated that: the Department of Defense will not negotiate some "minimized" or "sanitized" version of a release by WikiLeaks of additional U.S. Government classified documents. WikiLeaks wanted to release the material immediately, but Davies convinced him to let the Guardian examine it first. The Guardian called the material "one of the biggest leaks in U.S. military history ... a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and NATO commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency". "[29][30], An Obama administration statement disputed the self-reported status of WikiLeaks, stating that it "is not an objective news outlet but rather an organization that opposes U.S. policy in Afghanistan". Afghanistan shows 'limitations' of US military, experts say The swift collapse of the Afghan government demonstrates the US military's inability to engage in nation-building, experts say. An anonymous official said to Al Arabiya, "I don't think anyone who follows this issue will find it surprising that there are concerns about ISI and safe havens in Pakistan". "Open letter to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange: "Reporters Without Borders says Wikileaks 'irresponsible', "Reporters Without Borders: WikiLeaks Was Reckless", "WikiLeaks preparing to release more Afghan files", "Afghan war logs: inquiry launched into source of leaks", "Pentagon Eyes Accused Analyst Over WikiLeaks Data", "Official charge sheet for Bradley Manning", "US soldier charged over Apache Wikileaks video", "Alleged Army whistleblower felt angry and alone", "WikiLeaks Posts Mysterious 'Insurance' File", "Could Wikileaks be stopped, theoretically? The United . [1][2] The logs consist of over 91,000[3] Afghan War documents, covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009. Interesting to see Taliban forces equipped with armored vehicles deploying for the conflict with along their border. ", "WikiLeaks Defector Slams Assange In Tell-All Book", "Explosive Leaks Provide Image of War from Those Fighting It: The Secret Enemy in Pakistan", "Le'aked tales from the front lines paint dark portrait of Afghanistan", "Pakistan Spy Service Aids Insurgents, Reports Assert", "Afghanistan war logs: Clandestine aid for Taliban bears Pakistan's fingerprints", "Wikileaks documents: N. Korea sold missiles to al-Qaeda, Taliban", "Afghanistan war logs: Civilians caught in firing line of British troops", "Whistleblower's leaked US files reveal state of Afghan war", "Afghanistan war logs: Secret CIA paramilitaries' role in civilian deaths", "SCALATION OF FORCE BY 2D LAR NE OF AR RUTBAH: 2 CIV KILLED, 13 CIV INJ, 4 CF – WikiLeaks War Diaries", "Afghanistan war logs: How US marines sanitised record of bloodbath", "Afghanistan war logs: "Other government agency" shoots deaf mute", "Afghanistan war logs: Polish attack on village kills five, wounds several, including pregnant woman at wedding party", "Military rejects WikiLeaks friendly fire report", "Leaked file suggests 4 Canadians killed by friendly fire", "Hillier slams WikiLeaks 'friendly fire' report", "WikiLeaks report untrue: father of slain soldier", "Afghanistan war logs: US special forces gunship shoots 15 police", "Bin Laden among latest Wikileaks Afghan revelations", "Soldier from 36 Engineer Regiment killed in Afghanistan", "MOD confirms 'Friendly Fire' investigation", "Afghanistan war logs reveal hand of Osama bin Laden", "Afghanistan war logs: Al-Qaida alleged to be involved in rocket smuggling", "Afghanistan war logs: Task Force 373 – special forces hunting top Taliban", "Inside the Fog of War: Reports From the Ground in Afghanistan", "WikiLeaks' Afghan story raises dilemma over safety of sources – The WikiLeaks log showed the failures of the Afghan war – but the media moved on, overwhelmed by the weight of material", "Informant says WikiLeaks suspect had civilian help", "Julian Assange Responds to Increasing US Government Attacks on WikiLeaks", "Why won't the Pentagon help WikiLeaks redact documents? The innermost ring is "what we have in Afghanistan, and in the work that we would continue to do, through a diplomatic presence with our Afghan partners, to be able to help to manage and mitigate the threat of terrorism that can emanate from Afghanistan," he said. A C-17 Globemaster III assigned to Joint Base Charleston, S.C., takes off April 27, 2021, at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. They deserve it. President Biden said in April 2021 that the “final withdrawal” would begin May 1, and the U.S. would pull out fully “before we mark the 20th anniversary of that heinous attack on September 11th.”. From May 1996, Osama bin Laden had been living in Afghanistan along with other members of al-Qaeda, operating terrorist training camps in a loose alliance with the Taliban. [15], The documents, wrote journalist Jeff Stein of The Washington Post'', stated that Hezb-e-Islami party leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Amin al-Haq, a financial advisor to Osama bin Laden, both flew to North Korea on 19 November 2005, and purchased remote-controlled rockets to be used against American and coalition aircraft. [45], On 21 March 2007, CIA paramilitaries fired on a civilian man who was running from them. "[16][17] WikiLeaks says it does not know the source of the leaked data. Caitlyne Gonzales made it out of Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022. The Afghan Army Collapsed In Days. Here Are The Reasons Why - NPR FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. Najibullah Quraishi traveled inside a part of the country that had quietly reverted back to Taliban control and tracked members of an insurgent cell working with members of Al Qaeda on a mission to sabotage a major U.S./NATO supply route. Defending his withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden and his administration have emphasized how many people served in the Afghan military before its . How to support, honor US military on Memorial Day? Send a care package Some, including Barack Obama and Hamid Karzai, raised concerns that the detailed logs had exposed the names of Afghan informants, thereby endangering their lives. Friday, September 3 The New York Times Afghanistan transforms after a month of turmoil. [2], The Guardian called the material "one of the biggest leaks in U.S. military history...a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and NATO commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency".