Pentagon Accuses Soldier of Filtering Files

Pentagon Accuses Soldier of Filtering Files

Photo: Pentagon Accuses Soldier of Filtering Files

Pentagon Accuses Soldier of Filtering Files

Written by Diego Cesar Plata

The Pentagon confirmed today that it could imprison the U.S. Army soldier, Bradley Manning, as the main factor in the dissemination of secret military documents related to Afghanistan.  A spokesperson from the Department of Defense explained to CNN that Manning, 22, probably accessed the IT records of the Institution and downloaded thousands of files which he then resent via mail.

The statement specifies that a criminal investigation is already underway, and to date the accused soldier has not cooperated with judicial authorities.

The documents published by the WikiLeaks web page is divided into 100 categories and cover different subjects from the pursuit of Osama bin Laden to civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan.

The editor of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, declined to explain how the website that managed the 91,000 had access to secret archives on the U.S. war in central-Asia.

The fact is, most materials, all 76-thousand of them, were placed on the portal of the network on Sunday in what is considered the largest filtration of the military since the Pentagon Papers during the war the in Vietnam.

President Barack Obama and several of his spokesmen emphasized that for many press analysts, what is an obvious and old excuse: nothing revealed is important, unknown, or affects national security.

However, it is also undeniable that this fact represents a blow to the prestige and security of military and intelligence services of the United States.

Washington's war in Afghanistan reached a critical point in 2010 despite the employment of almost 140,000 foreign soldiers, with the Taliban in its most strengthened position since the beginning of the invasion in 2001.

How many thousands of soldiers will return from Afghanistan when they meet the deadline for withdrawal set by the White House and confirmed by Vice President Joseph Biden?

In July 2011, we will see many American military personnel moving from Kabul, but it will be the beginning of a transition program, explained the second executive (Biden) in the Oval Office.

Interviewed by the news agency ABC News, Biden said that initially the Pentagon expects to withdraw "a few thousand elements" of ground operations in the territory Central Asia.

Obama and the Central Command of the Armed Forces have been very clear on these points, strictly speaking, "this is the first step in a conversion that will last a long time," said the vice president.

Translated from the Portuguese version by:

Lisa KARPOVA

PRAVDA.Ru