WILLIAMS:
Good evening.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
There has been a massive leak. There are so many pages of
military
secrets now public, the
Pentagon
hasn't even read all of them.
Ninety-one
thousand documents have been released on the
Internet
by the whistle-blower
Web site
wikileaks.org, and they have more. Some of the documents ripped the
cover
off the US-led
war effort
in
Afghanistan
. They tell a story that some veterans of
the region know full well:
more civilian deaths than are ever reported, unexplained American deaths, questionable battlefield tactics, and a mission just not going that well. This comes just as the US, of course, is gearing up this new push in the conflict. We have two reports to start off with tonight. First, our
Pentagon
correspondent
Jim Miklaszewski
.
Jim
, good evening.
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI reporting:
Good evening,
Brian
. This massive leak provides incredible detail and insight into the
US war in Afghanistan
. Day by day, battle by battle, it's a tough look at the worst of the war. The staggering mountain of documents, nearly 92,000, covers a six-year stretch of the war ending last December when the US
war effort
was failing and the
Taliban
was on the rise. The
secret documents
were released by the whistle-blower
Web site
WikiLeaks
and its founder
Julian Assange
.
Mr. JULIAN ASSANGE:
The real story of this material is that it's war. It's one damn thing after another. It is the continuous small events, the continuous deaths of children, insurgents.
MIKLASZEWSKI:
Many of the documents tear the
cover
off
Pakistan
's alleged secret support for the
Taliban
.
The US
has long complained to
Pakistan
that its
intelligence service
, the
ISI
, was working with the
Taliban
; but today's release provides shocking and specific new details. Even as
Pakistan
accepted billions in
US aid
, the documents suggest
ISI
officials conspired with
Taliban
leaders to plan attacks against
American forces
in
Afghanistan
. Former
ISI
chief
Hamid Gul
was reportedly deeply involved in the
Taliban
operation. In an
NBC
interview today he fired back.
Mr. HAMID GUL:
I deny it vehemently, outrightly. I think it is mischievous. It is fictitious, and it is fabricated.
MIKLASZEWSKI:
At the
White House
today, press secretary
Robert Gibbs
called the allegations old news, and insisted
Pakistan
has stepped up its efforts to eliminate safe havens and drive out the
Taliban
.
Mr. ROBERT GIBBS:
I am not going to stand here on July the 26th and tell you that all is well. I will tell you that we have made progress in moving this relationship forward.
MIKLASZEWSKI:
The documents do show serious concerns among
US military
commanders. They repeatedly complain about lack of resources, unreliable Afghan soldiers and a corrupt
Afghan government
. Some cases suggest possible
military
cover
-ups. In
May 2007
documents show the
Taliban
shot down a
US helicopter
with a shoulder-fired heat-seeking missile, killing seven soldiers.
Flipper 75 engaged and struck with a
Missile
MIKLASZEWSKI:
But American commanders concealed that fact. Today
US military
officials tell
NBC News
that it was an Iranian-made heat-seeker that brought down the chopper. There are concerns, however, that this massive breakdown in security, revealing sources of battlefield intelligence, puts
US forces
and their allies at greater risk.
General BARRY McCAFFREY, Retired (NBC News Military Analyst):
Will we see friendly
human intelligence
sources murdered by the
Taliban
in
Pakistan
or
Afghanistan
? Will we lose access to intelligence that we use to protect our soldiers?
MIKLASZEWSKI:
The White House
and
Pentagon
argue that since most of these documents were written, the president signed off on a new strategy, and more
American forces
are headed to
Afghanistan
, providing a better chance for success. But given the history in
Afghanistan
, nobody's making any promises.
Brian:
Jim Miklaszewski
starting us off at the
Pentagon
.
Jim
, thanks.
WILLIAMS:
