WikiLeaks emerges as superpower in antisecrecy fight

[Forkboy]

WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks’s decision to transfer tens of thousands of raw classified field reports on the Afghan war to The New York Times and two European news organizations reflects the growing strength and sophistication of the small nonprofit website, founded three years ago to fight what it considers excessive secrecy.

WikiLeaks.org founder Julian Assange called the release of nearly 92,000 individual reports portraying a sputtering Afghan war effort “the nearest analogue to the Pentagon Papers.’’ He was referring to the secret military documents that helped shift public opinion about the Vietnam War after they became public in 1971.

“It provides a whole map, if you like, through time, of what has happened during this war,’’ said Assange, a native of Australia, in a television interview broadcast Sunday in Britain.

He acknowledged that some will judge harshly the website’s airing of classified documents, but he insisted that WikiLeaks was not breaking the law or putting troops at risk. For the first time, WikiLeaks decided unilaterally to delay the release of some documents because of the possibility that putting them out immediately could cause harm, he said.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/07/27/wikileaks_emerges_as_superpower_in_antisecrecy_fight/

[glinda]

1. Would like them to cover the Oil Companies and all the polluters...

[glinda]

2. dupe* delete