US soldiers can be demoralized by WikiLeaks docs: Morrell

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell says US did not ignore detainee abuse, following the release of classified military documents. The Pentagon decried the website’s publication of the secret reports, the largest security breach of its kind in US military history, far surpassing the group’s dump of more than 70,000 Afghan war files in July.
US officials said the leak endangered U.S. troops and threatened to put some 300 Iraqi collaborators at risk by exposing their identities. The bottom line is, our forces are still very much in danger here as a result of this exposure, given the fact that our tactics, techniques and procedures are exposed in these documents. And our enemies are undoubtedly going to try to use them against us, and making their jobs even more difficult and dangerous, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. Working with Iraq Body Count, a group run by academics and peace activists that estimates Iraq casualties, WikiLeaks had calculated that the documents revealed about 15,000 previously unknown civilian deaths. Morrell spoke about casualties and the allegations made about US forces. WikiLeaks said it had edited out sensitive information and was confident the documents contained no detail that could lead to anyone being harmed. The Iraq war files, spanning 2003 to 2009, touched on other themes, including well-known US concerns about Iranian training and support for some Iraqi militias. More than 4,400 US soldiers have been killed since the start of the 2003 US-led invasion. All US forces are set to withdraw from Iraq by the end of next year.

US soldiers can be demoralized by WikiLeaks docs: Morrell

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell says US did not ignore detainee abuse, following the release of classified military documents. The Pentagon decried the website’s publication of the secret reports, the largest security breach of its kind in US military history, far surpassing the group’s dump of more than 70,000 Afghan war files in July.
US officials said the leak endangered U.S. troops and threatened to put some 300 Iraqi collaborators at risk by exposing their identities. The bottom line is, our forces are still very much in danger here as a result of this exposure, given the fact that our tactics, techniques and procedures are exposed in these documents. And our enemies are undoubtedly going to try to use them against us, and making their jobs even more difficult and dangerous, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. Working with Iraq Body Count, a group run by academics and peace activists that estimates Iraq casualties, WikiLeaks had calculated that the documents revealed about 15,000 previously unknown civilian deaths. Morrell spoke about casualties and the allegations made about US forces. WikiLeaks said it had edited out sensitive information and was confident the documents contained no detail that could lead to anyone being harmed. The Iraq war files, spanning 2003 to 2009, touched on other themes, including well-known US concerns about Iranian training and support for some Iraqi militias. More than 4,400 US soldiers have been killed since the start of the 2003 US-led invasion. All US forces are set to withdraw from Iraq by the end of next year.

McChrystal leaves White House after Obama meeting

WASHINGTON: General Stanley McChrystal arrived Wednesday at the White House to meet President Barack Obama and explain a damaging interview that could see the US commander in Afghanistan sacked.

The general earlier held a 30-minute meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and top military officer Admiral Mike Mullen at the Pentagon, press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

In Rolling Stone”s profile, titled “The Runaway General,” McChrystal aides mocked Vice President Joe Biden, dismissed Obama”s national security adviser as “a clown,” and revealed that the general was “disappointed” by his first meeting with Obama.

McChrystal himself is quoted as deriding US special envoy Richard Holbrooke, and as saying he felt “betrayed” by the US ambassador to Kabul Karl Eikenberry, who had raised pointed objections to his strategy.

Obama said Tuesday he wanted to first talk with McChrystal before deciding his fate, but US media reported that even before he arrived in Washington he had offered his resignation.

The Rolling Stone article brought to the surface lingering tensions between military leaders and the White House, just as the US deploys 30,000 more troops to the war prompted by the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Qaeda ability to carry out large attacks diminished: US

WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda”s ability to carry out large-scale complex strikes has “diminished” due to recent aggressive campaigns against it, but the terror network is trying to launch smaller attacks which are much more difficult to detect and thwart, the US Defence Department has said.

“Their (al-Qaeda and its extremist allies) ability to launch large-scale, complex attacks has clearly been diminished by the fact that we have taken the war as aggressively as we have to them,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

“Now, has al-Qaeda and other associated terrorist groups, have they been able to disperse and crop up elsewhere? Yes.

Gulf of Mexico oil spill is likely a catastrophe‎

WASHINGTON: The Navy sent equipment to help with cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the Pentagon said Thursday it stands ready to expand its response to the disaster.

Navy spokesman Lt. Myers Vasquez said Thursday that 66,000 feet of inflatable boom and seven skimming systems were on their way to the Navy base in Gulfport, Miss. The help is being provided under an existing pollution cleanup agreement between the Navy and Coast Guard.

Booms are commonly used as a floating barrier or fence to control the movement of spills in bodies of water.

The Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida is in use as a staging area for more booms, recovery barges, tractor trailers, pumps and other related equipment used by Coast Guard contractors, Vasquez said.

He was unaware of any military personnel who might be sent to help with the cleanup.

The White House has asked the Defense Department to discuss possible additional requests. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the military is assessing how it might help and what resources could be deployed. He did not say how long that might take.

“There is a full-blown effort within this department to try to find the kinds of things that could be helpful,” Morrell said.

He said the federal response is far wider than the Pentagon and should involve a close partnership with the energy industry. For example, he said, industrial research on submersible vehicles that can operate at great depth outpaces the military”s.

Morrell said the focus of military efforts now is on helping to contain the spill at sea, but that the Pentagon would be ready to offer other kinds of help should the spill reach shore. He would not speculate on what that additional assistance might include, but one possibility would be an influx of U.S. troops to help with shoreline cleanup.

Northrop Grumman, a major defense contractor that operates in the region, said Thursday it would put an oil boom around its entire west bank facility in Pascagoula, Miss., to protect its assets there.

The company also said it would set up a 24-hour watch to monitor the spill.

US Wants Iran Sanctions Within Weeks

PARIS: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to see the United Nations slap sanctions on Iran in “weeks, not months.”

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters Tuesday that Gates “clearly thinks time is of the essence.”

Gates is returning to Washington after spending a week in Europe. In Paris on Monday he met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Gates also met with NATO officials in Istanbul to discuss Afghanistan, including ways to address a shortfall of 4,000 military trainers.

Morrell says Gates believes a U.N. resolution would lay the legal groundwork countries need to impose sanctions independently and pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program.

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US Wants Iran Sanctions Within Weeks was first posted on February 9, 2010 at 3:58 pm.