Taliban Using Wikileaks' Afghanistan Leak to Hunt Down Informants
In an interview with Britain's Channel 4 News, a Taliban spokesman says they're using Wikileaks' enormous Afghanistan leak to identify and possibly punish Afghan informants. The moral calculus of this thing just got even more muddied.
The Taliban spokesman said:
We are studying the report... We knew about the spies and people who collaborate with US forces. We will investigate through our own secret service whether the people mentioned are really spies working for the US. If they are US spies, then we know how to punish them.
An analysis by the New York Times found that reports identified "dozens of Afghan informants, potential defectors and others who were cooperating with American and NATO troops." Hey Afghans: Now is a good time to go to the Internet cafe and see if your name made the Wikileaks list!
Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange has mainly dodged the issue of collateral damage, talking up his organization's "harm minimization" procedures and saying his team was looking into it. But he's been clear in the past that whatever negative impact his organization's leaks have are attributable only to the country whose misdeeds they document.
And the irony of the situation is obvious in the title of Wikileaks' famous attack helicopter video: "Collateral Murder."
[Picture of Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange via Getty Images]