September 11, 2010
WikiLeaks set to release Iraq war records
Whistle-blowing site reportedly working with Bureau of Investigative Journalism
WikiLeaks is set to released a further cache of secret US military records relating to the war in Iraq to the public in just a few weeks.
A Newsweek report revealed that London based journalism non-profit the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has teamed up with media outlets in a number of countries to produce documentaries and stories based on this collection of US military reports.
Ian Overton, editor of the organisation, told Newsweek that the media sites would all be releasing their stories on the same day in “several weeks”, with the volume of reports likely to be greater than the 92,000 Afghan field reports leaked to WikiLeaks which it released in part last month.
The whistle-blowing site was criticised by the US Department of Defense at the time, which demanded the return of the top secret documents published by Wikileaks claiming that its actions have threatened the safety of US and Allied troops.
Wikileaks said that it is currently examining the Pentagon's request, and will issue a statement "in due course", however, it is unlikely it will comply, given that it is preparing to go public with the huge collection of Iraqi documents.
It’s unclear how big a role WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has had in the negotiations with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, however, given that he is currently facing investigation by the Swedish authorities over allegations of rape, which supporters have brushed off as attempts to smear his character.
http://www.pcw.co.uk/v3/news/2269619/wikileaks-set-release-iraq-war
