Tens of thousands of alleged Afghan war documents go online

[slim 1,525]

Why should it get more attention? It's been pretty obvious since day one there are certain things the government doesn't necessarily put out there and now, when it's leaked, it's not really that big of a surprise.

"More civilians were killed than originally reported." NO! You don't say? I wonder why they didn't cover that one?

Keep in mind, all of you "this is so great that we're now uncovering the govt.'s lies" folks that this is the same govt. you're trusting to protect you when things go bad.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Because if people knew the unvarnished truth, they'd be less willing to buy into these unnecessary wars.

[slim 1,525]

Because if people knew the unvarnished truth, they'd be less willing to buy into these unnecessary wars.

How so? We bought into unnecessary "hope and change."

People are stupid. Truth has nothing to do with it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

How so? We bought into unnecessary "hope and change."

People are stupid. Truth has nothing to do with it.

They're ignorant, which is quite a bit different from being stupid. The more information you have, the less ignorant you are.

As to "hope and change", you might have bought into. I never did. It was a meaningless campaign slogan.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

*gasp* civilians died.

The problem with the wars in the middle-east, is we aren't killing enough civilians.

These 'wars' should have been over 5 years ago.....

[slim 1,525]

They're ignorant, which is quite a bit different from being stupid. The more information you have, the less ignorant you are.

If you form your opinion based on "what's available" and not everything (as in, a little logic added to that somewhere) you're stupid. Ignorant too, I'll give you that, but stupid all the same.

As to "hope and change", you might have bought into. I never did. It was a meaningless campaign slogan.

We're all buying into it now because we're paying for it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If you form your opinion based on "what's available" and not everything (as in, a little logic added to that somewhere) you're stupid. Ignorant too, I'll give you that, but stupid all the same.

I'd rather discuss specifics and not generalisms so that you can continue your petty feud with me

Is it right that governments cite national security interests simply because the release of certain information might prejudice public opinion? On a controversial war policy, where citizens are being asked to give their lives fighting for control of a country that cannot be controlled - they surely have the right to know.

We're all buying into it now because we're paying for it.

So sad. Too bad. You get the leaders you deserve.

[slim 1,525]

The problem with the wars in the middle-east, is we aren't killing enough civilians.

This is a pretty effective manner of stopping most wars. However, it's not the lack of killing civilians that's killing us over there... it's the lack of killing enemy combatants hiding amongst the civiilians. If we were to green light large scale attacks we'd be golden.

These 'wars' should have been over 5 years ago.....

But they won't until we're allowed to do what needs to be done to end them.

I'd rather discuss specifics and not generalisms so that you can continue your petty feud with me

That's a first!

Is it right that governments cite national security interests simply because the release of certain information might prejudice public opinion? On a controversial war policy, where citizens are being asked to give their lives fighting for control of a country that cannot be controlled - they surely have the right to know.

Citizens shouldn't be dumb enough to buy into exactly what the govt. is telling them and only what the govt. is telling them. If they're not conducting some independent thought in there somewhere, the govt. is always going to be in a position to control information.

So sad. Too bad. You get the leaders you deserve.

I know. I'm working on it.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

*gasp* civilians died.

The problem with the wars in the middle-east, is we aren't killing enough civilians.

These 'wars' should have been over 5 years ago.....

I actually sort of agree with this. If you are going to conduct a war, it should be total war, otherwise your just grinding through lives and resources without any conviction.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I actually sort of agree with this. If you are going to conduct a war, it should be total war, otherwise your just grinding through lives and resources without any conviction.

You can't declare total war against a guerila army.

The irony is that shoulder mounted missiles that were so successful at shooting down Russian helicopters are now apparently being used with similar effectiveness against the United States. The US supplied that hardware to the Mujahadeen in the 80's - I wonder who's providing it to the Taliban now by way of Pakistand

Clearly the US learned nothing from its experiences in Vietnam.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

You can't declare total war against a guerila army.

The irony is that shoulder mounted missiles that were so successful at shooting down Russian helicopters are now apparently being used with similar effectiveness against the United States. The US supplied that hardware to the Mujahadeen in the 80's - I wonder who's providing it to the Taliban now by way of Pakistand

Clearly the US learned nothing from its experiences in Vietnam.

You can wage total war against any enemy. The United States hasn't waged total war since 1945.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You can wage total war against any enemy. The United States hasn't waged total war since 1945.

You can't do it in a world of ever-present media. Not without some fundamental shift in the political system.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

You can't do it in a world of ever-present media. Not without some fundamental shift in the political system.

That's another mistake, embedding the media into the military.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

That's another mistake, embedding the media into the military.

If you're asking people to fight and risk their lives in foreign wars, it seems reasonable that the people know what is actually going on.

As far as it goes, the US military in its recruitment campaigns has not moved very far beyond Dulce Et Decorum Est.

[slim 1,525]

shoulder mounted missiles that were so successful at shooting down Russian helicopters are now apparently being used with similar effectiveness against the United States. The US supplied that hardware to the Mujahadeen in the 80's - I wonder who's providing it to the Taliban now by way of Pakistand

You've actually posted something that makes sense. Way to go!

You can wage total war against any enemy. The United States hasn't waged total war since 1945.

Spot-on!

You can't do it in a world of ever-present media. Not without some fundamental shift in the political system.

You can, but you have to claim "national security" concerns and censor some of the footage and stories.