Leaked Pentagon Files Prove Afghan War is a Massive Waste of Taxpayer Money

The recent unauthorized release of confidential military information regarding the war in Afghanistan is being denounced by the White House, even as it shows that the war is not going well at all, the US military has unfortunately engaged in scandalous actions and the objectives of the war are not remotely being met.

"A whistleblower leaked tens of thousands of secret military files on the Afghan war Monday, documenting the deaths of innocent civilians and how Pakistan's spy agency secretly supports the Taliban.

The leaks prompted a furious reaction from the White House, saying they put the lives of soldiers at risk, but the man behind the revelations said the controversy vindicated the decision to break cover.

In all, some 92,000 documents dating back to 2004 were released by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks to the New York Times, Britain's Guardian newspaper and Germany's Der Spiegel news weekly.

They carry allegations that Iran is providing money and arms to Taliban insurgents, and details how widespread corruption is hampering a war now in its ninth year.

The New York Times said the archive illustrated "in mosaic detail why, after the United States has spent almost 300 billion dollars on the war, the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001" while the Guardian said the files painted "a devastating portrait of the failing war."

The White House response is almost Orwellian, as it objects to the release of this information on the grounds that it will "put soldier's lives at risk".

Actually, what is putting American soldier's lives at risk is the decision by that same White House to continue to wage this pointless, budget-draining war in the first place.

It's always curious when an objection is lodged related to the release of otherwise private information and that objection does not allege that the leaked information is false, misleading or otherwise untrue. Here, there's no apparent reason that the American public, which, you know, is actually paying for this war, has been denied access to this now-leaked information. The person that leaked this information deserves our praise for his courage and willingness to show that the Emporer has no clothes!

It will be interesting to see how the mainstream media plays this release. In my humble view, the release of this information is as potentially troubling to the Obama Administration as the release of the so-called Pentagon Papers was to the Nixon Administration during the Vietnam War.

Of course, unlike President Nixon, President Obama has many supporters in the mainstream media, so they may choose to protect him by whitewashing this story. Time will tell.

There is no disputing, however, the fact the leak of this information demonstrates once again that the American military is over-taxed in its overseas combat entanglements and stirs up more trouble in its overseas antics than it is able to fix by being overseas in the first place.

Time to bring the boys home for good and reduce our military spending dramatically.