WikiLeaks and the War in Afghanistan

Making News

Massive Loss for BP in Oily Wake of Gulf Spill ()

BP has announced a record loss of $17 billion, set aside $32 billion to pay for costs related to the Gulf oil spill and replaced CEO Tony Hayward with Robert Dudley, the first American to had Britain’s largest oil company. Julia Werdigier reports from London for the New York Times.

Guests:

• Julia Werdigier: Reporter, New York Times

Main Topic

WikiLeaks and the War in Afghanistan ()

The White House, the Pentagon, national security think-tanks and some reporters say all those formerly secret documents released by WikiLeaks don’t contain anything new. But civilian casualties, Afghan corruption and Pakistan’s mixed loyalties are not what the American people have heard about from two presidents and their military commanders. Will public perceptions be changed? Will Congress start backing away? Will 92,000 raw reports from the battlefield provide new understanding of America’s longest war or more confusion than ever?  

Guests:

• Jay Rosen: Professor of Journalism, New York University, @jayrosen_nyu
• Spencer Ackerman: Senior Reporter, Wired Magazine
• James Corum: Retired Lieutenant Colonel, US Army Reserve
• Thomas Johnson: Director, Naval Postgraduate School's Program for Culture and Conflict Studies

Links:

• New York Times on 'The War Logs'
• Guardian on the 'Afghan war logs'
• Der Spiegel on the 'Afghanistan war logs' (in German)
• New Yorker profile on WikiLeaks' Julian Assange
• Washington Post on America's massive intelligence system

Reporter's Notebook

Filibuster Overkill ()

The filibuster once was a tool of last resort in the US Senate, when a minority felt it was subject to tyranny by the majority. In the 1970’s there were less than two cloture motions a month, rising to three in the 1990’s.  Now it’s become a routine device to delay, and even obstruct, majority rule, according to Norm Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, in recent testimony before the Senate Committee on Rules.

Guests:

• Norman Ornstein: American Enterprise Institute, @AEI