Wikileaks' website is reportedly under attack as it prepares to release up to 2.7 million documents, described as "diplomatic dynamite", detailing communication between United States embassies. "We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack," the organisation said on its Twitter feed. The website, run by Julian Assange, retaliated by saying that even if their website goes down, several newspapers will publish the leaked files this evening.
The Obama administration wrote to Assange yesterday to warn him that "countless" lives would be put at risk should the documents be published. "We will not engage in a negotiation regarding the further release or dissemination of illegally obtained US government classified materials," the letter stated. Wikinews reported on Saturday that officials in Washington were contacting embassies around the world to warn diplomats of the leak.
Assange told reporters on Sunday: "The material that we are about to release covers essentially every major issue in every country in the world." Wikileaks confirmed that El Pais, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, The Guardian and The New York Times will be publishing the documents this evening. "The greatest anxiety is that these leaks will reveal remarks [by U.S. diplomats] of a hostile nature towards various Islamic leaders and Islamic state policies," political analyst Peter Spencer said. Analysts have said that the letter to Obama reflects the U.S. administration's concern over possible publication of the files, which may contain American diplomats' opinions of other politicians, some of which may be candid and embarrassing. - Wikipedia
At 5pm EST Friday 22nd October 2010 WikiLeaks released the largest classified military leak in history. The 391,832 reports ('The Iraq War Logs'), document the war and occupation in Iraq, from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2009 (except for the months of May 2004 and March 2009) as told by soldiers in the United States Army. Each is a 'SIGACT' or Significant Action in the war. They detail events as seen and heard by the US military troops on the ground in Iraq and are the first real glimpse into the secret history of the war that the United States government has been privy to throughout.
The reports detail 109,032 deaths in Iraq, comprised of 66,081 'civilians'; 23,984 'enemy' (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 'host nation' (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 'friendly' (coalition forces). The majority of the deaths (66,000, over 60%) of these are civilian deaths.That is 31 civilians dying every day during the six year period. For comparison, the 'Afghan War Diaries', previously released by WikiLeaks, covering the same period, detail the deaths of some 20,000 people. Iraq during the same period, was five times as lethal with equivalent population size. - WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks example - Black Van Dropping Off Insurgents: Excerpts from written transcript of 1st Air Cavalry Brigade investigation
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