Wikileaks Proves That Truth is Unwelcome by Obama War Bosses

Wikileaks proves beyond a doubt that the truth about the war in Afghanistan is totally unwelcome by Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, every general in the war theater and throughout the military, as well as President Obama.

Actually, Wikileaks has revealed very little if any new information about conditions in Afghanistan. Most of the approximately 77,000 documents released thus far are low-level accounts of incidents and tactical situations that have been previously reported or are minor events. The only information that may be classified as new is that the Taliban have on occasion used heat seeking missiles as offensive weapons against US and NATO aircraft. Even that information should not come as a surprise as it was the US that introduced the Stinger missiles into Afghanistan that were used by the Afghans against the Soviets with effective results.

The information that seem to be so disturbing to the American war leadership was that Pakistan has been double dealing in the fight against the Taliban. However, this information is not new. It has been surmised since 2004 that the Taliban has received and is still receiving assistance from the Pakistani ISI, their version of the US CIA. The Taliban was created by the ISI, with assistance from the United States CIA, during the Soviet-Afghanistan war which ended in 1989.

Rather than be bent out of shape that this old information is once again in the news the US should acknowledge that politics in Pakistan are extremely complicated and that the power of the central government is limited. The military has long had an important position of power within Pakistan and military objectives, especially in the Interservice Intelligence unit (ISI), often are not the same as the publicly announced objectives of the Pakistani government. Pakistan does not want a government in Afghanistan that is in any way friendly with their old foe India. The United States faces extreme challenges in working through a sensible relationship with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.

The statement by Sec. of Defense Robert Gates that “blood is on the hands of Wikileaks” seems to me to be one of extreme hypocrisy. It would seem to me that blood is on the hands of Robert Gates, and President George Bush and President Obama administration’s for pursuing a ridiculous war that has killed thousands of Afghan civilians as well as over 1100 US servicemen during what is now a nine year effort in futility. The Taliban will still be in Afghanistan long after the US and Nato forces have pulled out. After all they are residents there.

Wikileaks has been and undoubtably will continue to be attacked by the present administration as well as by the military as the messenger that brings further confirmation as to how badly the war in Afghanistan has been managed by US and NATO forces. It seems that the truth is the last thing that the Obama administration wishes to reveal to the American public. This fact is a huge disappointment to those who believed that President Obama was serious about his desire to bring transparency to government as promised during his presidential campaign.

I strongly believe that this disappointment will make itself known during the November midterm elections although the war will likely be a minor political factor compared to the sorry state of the US economy.