- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
- Messages
- 13,005
- Reaction score
- 5,739
- Location
- Huntsville, AL (USA)
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Moderate
What's he released that's put troops at risk?
Good question...
Most folks look for intelligence information, such as troop strength, troop movements, military strategies, weaponry, that sort of thing to justify the "risk". I haven't read the WikiLeak articles, so I can't say for sure if any of this type of information is among the leaked documents. What I can say is alot of information concerning diplomatic relations have been released. In and of itself, it's no big deal. Representatives from various governments will always hold diplomatic dialog (or so we hope). But here's the rub...
Our nation is in the midst of drawing down one war in Iraq and heavily engaged in trying to twarth terrorism in Afghanistan, and in doing so we've forged diplomatic relationships across several nations. At the core of these WikiLeak documents (according to press releases) are the strength of our foreign relationtions which the U.S. depend on in our fight against terrorism. If these relationships are torn about due to what amounts to be "gossip", it may ultimately mean we fight terrorism largely across the Middle-East alone. I mean, what nation can tolerate knowing that their government partnered w/the U.S. in underhanded dealings? The government of Yemen, for example, may not like that their country has become a harbenger for terrorist activity. But if their people upon learning the truth as to the depths towhich their government has been willing to go in order to rid their country of terrorist, some of which may be their own countrymen, maybe they're not so willing to support their government any longer. This is just an example based on what's been reported through the media, but being prior military and thinking from that frame of mind, I can certainly see where these leaks can have serious consequences. And the political ripple effect cannot be good for us. To that, Sect. Clinton was smart to jump on the phones all night to smooth this situation over fast!