US administration raises question marks on whistleblower’s credibility

NEW DELHI: In a case of blaming the messenger, the White House on Monday called the whistleblower website WikiLeaks revelations “irresponsible”.

“The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organisations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security. Wikileaks made no effort to contact us about these documents – the US government learned from news organisations that these documents would be posted. These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people,” White House National Security Adviser James Jones said.

White House officials also tried to defend the Obama adminsitration’s approach and its engagement with Pakistan. “The period of time covered in these documents (January 2004-December 2009) is before the President announced his new strategy. Some of the disconcerting things reported are exactly why the President ordered a three month policy review and a change in strategy,” agency reports from Washington quoting official sources said.

The officials also tried to raise question marks over the whistleblower’s credibility. “It’s worth noting that WikiLeaks is not an objective news outlet but rather an organisation that opposes US policy in Afghanistan. For all their eye-popping details, the intelligence files, which are mostly collated by junior officers relying on informants and Afghan officials, fail to provide a convincing smoking gun for ISI complicity. Most of the reports are vague, filled with incongruent detail, or crudely fabricated. The same characters – famous Taliban commanders, well-known ISI officials – and scenarios repeatedly pop up. And few of the events predicted in the reports subsequently occurred,” they said.