Ever since they were publicized on July 25, 2010, the Wikileaks documents have dominated the news. Spokespersons for both the Pentagon and the White House were quick to point out that most of the information in the documents was already known. Others, like Congressman Peter King of New York, called the leaking of the documents treason, stated on a morning talk show that, “…for anyone to think that he has the right to disclose secret information and put their lives [US soldiers] at risk is absolutely disgraceful.”
In the Middle East, however the leaks are viewed as far more than the fog of war. They corroborate the daily experiences of civilians in the war zone and point to the need for US troops to abandon Afghanistan.
Wikileaks Confirmed What Afghan and Pakistan Already Knew
While the US has taken a benign approach to the tens of thousands of secret documents, the leaks are receiving different reactions in the Middle East. Aijaz Zaka Syed, writing in Arab News (July 27, 2010) states that, “…the shock and awe of the Wikileaks disclosures takes your breath away.” Rafia Zakaria, in Pakistan’s Dawn (July 18, 2010) comments that, “Within hours of release, the political landscape surrounding the Afghan war was transformed.”
The leaks may also exacerbate tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan. President Hamid Karzai was quoted on July 29, 2010 by the Afghan On Line Press saying that, “The war against terrorism is not in the villages or houses of Afghanistan…and it is not for martyrdom of Afghan people and army, but in the sanctuaries, sources of funding and training and they lie outside Afghanistan.” His statement was interpreted to mean Pakistan, which called his remarks “incomprehensible.”
Wikileaks Expose More Civilian Deaths and Taliban Success than Reported
Articles from the Middle East highlight the cost of civilian lives, listing such “bloody errors” as the 2007 killing of a wedding party by Polish troops. Zakaria says that, “None of this is new information for those in either Afghanistan or Pakistan, whose citizens have seen in close proximity the cruelty of a war that remains remote and abstract to ordinary Americans.”
Under General Stanley McCrystal, a concerted effort was made to avoid civilian casualties. General Petraeus, who assumed command upon the resignation of McCrystal, has issued new rules of warfare. The Afghan On Line Press (July 29, 2010) published an item disclosing one of General Petraeus’ new guidelines that proscribes bases and combat posts to be placed as close to civilian population centers as possible. Although the intent is to “be a good guest,” Afghans fear that this action will result in higher civilian deaths.
Will the Wikileaks War Log Impact American Support for the War?
Zaka Syed writes that the Wikileaks disclosures “paint a picture” that is worse than anyone could have imagined, “including the blissfully clueless Americans.” Zakaria comments that, “For ordinary Americans, the Wiki leaks controversy could be the much-awaited wake-up call that would force them to pay attention…” Evan Hill (Aljazeera, July 30, 2010) concludes that “Afghanistan, the reports seem to show, is a place where the citizens themselves have lost much of the ability to shape the events of their own lives.”
Although some observers initially compared the documents to the Pentagon Papers – which fueled a growing anti-war sentiment during the Vietnam War, they will have less effect among Americans seeking to bring the troops home. On July 29, 2010 Congressmen Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich presented a House resolution to force US withdrawal from Pakistan but were defeated by a vote of 372-38.
Wikileaks disclosures, at least in the Middle East, are suggesting that U.S. and coalition partners in Afghanistan begin to plot a realistic exit strategy. Zaka Syed writes that, “…the least the Nobel laureate president could have done was put an end to the shame of Iraq and Afghanistan.” Fatima Siddiqui, in a letter-to-the-editor (Dawn, July 29, 2010), writes that, “the US, in its own ‘interest’, must quit Afghanistan sooner rather than later.”
Policy Change not too Late in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Writing in the magazine Muslim Sunrise (Fall 2010), Shazia Sohal states that the United States must, “clearly articulate a concern for upholding religious freedom and related human rights as an essential element of the new U.S. strategy…and support…civil institutions that work to uphold and guarantee those rights…” It is not too late to give up on Afghanistan, a country often referred to as the “graveyard of empires.”
Wiki leak disclosures should not lead to scapegoating, as Rafia Zakaria suggests in terms of Congressional investigations. Rather, the disclosures should force policy changes that include a reappraisal of how the U.S. is perceived in the Middle East and how the war is conducted.
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