Politics

2,163 to 0

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That is, how many deaths to coalition forces have been caused by the U.S. presence in Afghanistan vs. how many deaths of them, or anyone, caused by Wikileaks public release of secret U.S. documents related to that war? As Adam Serwer notes at American Prospect:

Despite widespread anticipation that the release of Wikileaks' Afghanistan logs would lead to the deaths of Afghan citizens who had helped the U.S. military, fueled by both official statements from the U.S. government and the Taliban itself, Defense SecretaryRobert Gates recently told Senator Carl Levin that the worst hasn't happened:

As far as broader intelligence gathering, Mr. Gates told Mr. Levin, "Our initial review indicates most of the information contained in these documents relates to tactical military operations." He added: "The initial assessment in no way discounts the risk to national security; however, the review to date has not revealed any sensitive intelligence sources and methods compromised by this disclosure."

Also note the nearly 7000 civilian casualties of the war in just the past four years. Earlier blogging from me on relative guilt and blood on hands when military men accused Wikileaks of criminal and fatal recknessness.