Analysis of Wikileaks' war logs

Despite what has been optimistically stated, these 90,000 documents are far from being the new Pentagon Papers. Not even close. These SIGACTS (significant action) cables are a basic log about the everyday events of the Afghan war, available daily to thousands of military personnel and contractors through the basic defense department intranet. While they are classified and not available to the public, they aren't top secret or even highly classified. There isn't a monster revelation hidden in the documents, especially not for people who have followed the war and have known for years that it is an abject failure, that scores of civilians are routinely killed by US forces, and that Pakistan is a shady ally.

However, it is a very good and very important thing that these cables and logs were leaked. First of all, proponents of the war can no longer point to the White House's rosy interpretation of the war narrative to say that things are going well and turning positive. These logs show beyond a doubt that the US has made little to no progress in nine years, and that Afghanistan is just as much a chaotic mess as ever. Those who support the United States' presence in Afghanistan point to the "surge" and to various metrics to say that the tide is turning or whatnot. The leaks are indisputable proof that that is untrue, that the US isn't any closer to any sort of victory or stability. Hopefully it will result in a change in the discourse surrounding Afghanistan. If it is impossible to defend this war, then perhaps there will be more outcry to pull out.

Second of all, there is solid evidence in the leaks that civilian murder by the US army and coalition forces is under reported and covered up. The cables describe in stark detail the reckless abandon with which US soldiers act, especially with regard to Afghan civilian life. They routinely kill with no qualms and no repercussions. Taken together, the logs suggest that the flimsiest justifications are accepted for civilian casualties.

Third of all, it is generally a positive thing that this information got leaked, even if it is somewhat mundane. I fully support Wikileaks and Assange, because if the US government routinely misleads the public about the realities of the war, and if the mainstream media is too dysfunctional and corporate to take on the hard questions, then there needs to be some source that provides the public with the truth. There has been a critique that leaking raw documents isn't journalism and isn't reporting. But if Wikileaks exposes the cover-ups of the administration through primary source documentation, then it is functioning as journalism should.

The Afghanistan war logs don't expose one gigantic cover-up or scandal. They aren't a wide lens look at policy or long term results. They are individual dispatches that portray the reality on the ground, and when put together paint a picture of a messy and chaotic war with no end in sight.