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We are in the process right now of assessing the documents,' Lapan added.
[...]
The Pentagon has yet to confirm the impact of the reports, as it's still early in the assessment process, Lapan said.
[...]
'As they are made available, we will be looking at them to try to determine potential damage to lives of our servicemembers and our coalition partners; whether they reveal sources in methods and any potential damage to national security,' he said. 'Since this was just released last night, we're still in the process going through that assessment.'
[...]
It could take the Pentagon weeks to make such determinations, Lapan said. But much of what the Pentagon has discovered early in the investigation is that the documents are classified at a 'secret' level, and not 'top-secret,' which is reserved for more sensitive material, he said.
[...]
'There's nothing we've seen so far that is particularly relevant,' Lapan added. |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/4GgwU |
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Title: |
Pentagon Assesses Leaked Documents |
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Author: |
Michael Carden |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
American Forces Press Service, Department of Defense |
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Archive Link |
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An investigation has been initiated, [and] Army CID has the lead,' Lapan said.
[...]
'(CID) is an investigative agency that has the ability, the capability, to do these types of things,' Lapan said. 'There are a number of investigative agencies (within the Pentagon), but the decision was made that Army CID takes the lead.'
[...]
Army CID, he said, also is investigating the case of Army Spc. Bradley Manning, who has been charged with leaking a video of a U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq to WikiLeaks. The document leaks investigation is a continuation or extension of the existing open investigation on Manning, Lapan said.
[...]
However, he added, the document leak investigation is 'broader' than the Manning case.
[...]
'The current investigation into the leak of the documents to WikiLeaks isn't focused on any one, specific individual,' Lapan said. 'It's much broader. They're going to look everywhere to determine what the source may be.' |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/WUE6Y |
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The answer, Morrell said, is 'to go after the 'bad actors,' hold them responsible, prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, but don't change the fundamental trusting relationship that makes the military so effective.'
[...]
'We are aligned in that respect,' Morrell said of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. 'But we each have our own interests here that we have to balance and work through. We think we're making a lot of progress there, but we're not alone in the driver's seat.
[...]
'As Secretary Gates says, we're in the passenger seat. They're at the wheel,' Morrell continued. 'They determine the direction and the pace, but we're going to be their partner in this effort.'
[...]
'And are there any things in there that could jeopardize our operations or our nation's security?' he continued. 'We just don't know at this point.' |
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Name(s:) |
Geoff Morrell |
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Title: |
Press Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Pentagon, Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/WUE6Y |
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Title: |
Pentagon Launches Probe into Document Leaks |
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Author: |
Michael Carden |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
American Forces Press Service, Department of Defense |
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Archive Link |
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The Pentagon has launched an investigation to find out how thousands of classified military documents were leaked to the group WikiLeaks.org, a Defense Department spokesman said.
[...]
However, he added, the document leak investigation is 'broader' than the Manning case.
[...]
'The current investigation into the leak of the documents to WikiLeaks isn't focused on any one, specific individual,' Lapan said. 'It's much broader. They're going to look everywhere to determine what the source may be.' |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Url Link
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/F5A8f |
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Q General Campbell, Barbara Starr from CNN. When you look at something like Wikileaks, as a commander, what concerns you about the -- specifically, if you can, about the disclosure of that type of information and the risk that it can pose to troops, operations and Afghan civilians who assist you? And I ask this because so many people are trying to assess is this really a critical leak of information, or is it just a huge volume of relatively low-level material.
GEN. CAMPBELL: Hi, Barbara. Good to see you again.
First off as you know, we've been tied up with this DUSTWUN operation. So I've not really read any of the 92,000-plus documents that have reported to be leaked.
I would just tell you from my perspective though, anytime there's any sort of leak of classified material, it has the potential to harm or put in harm's way the military folks that are working out here every day, to preserve that.
So I have not seen any specific examples of what's in that. I've been tied up with this DUSTWUN operation 24/7. If it does in fact name names of people that have worked with coalition forces, I could see that that would have a detriment down the road.
My read just briefly from looking at a couple articles early this morning is that much of the stuff that has come out there is really not new news. It's between 2004 and I think December 2009. Most of that I think we've heard about.
So I didn't think there was anything staggering or new that we didn't know. There are some issues there about the Pakistan interaction and the tie-in with what's going on over here.
I would just tell you that we're really working hard with our Pakistan counterparts. I have Pakistani LNOs in the JOC here. I've been over to Pakistan since I've been here, to work with the XI Corps and the Frontier Corps.
I think we have a great opportunity here in the next six to nine months, with the leadership that we have on the border of Pakistan and down to the battalion level, to really work that aggressively.
There have been a lot of operations the last year-plus in Pakistan along the border. I think they realize that we face a common foe and we have to work together, to get rid of that common foe, to make sure that we don't have safe havens in Pakistan.
And some -- I think there's some potential to do good stuff. But as far as the Wikileaks, I don't think there's a great impact currently on us here today. And we have not changed any of our operations or any strategy here based on that. |
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Name(s:) |
John Campbell |
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Title: |
Commander |
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Agency(ies): |
Regional Command East in Afghanistan, Combined Joint Task Force 101,101st Airborne Division, Department of Defense |
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Concerning: |
Afghan War Diary |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/cL0Wr |
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Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said today that U.S. troops in Afghanistan are hearing discontent from Afghan partners, whose names were revealed in the documents leak. Some Afghan nationals work with coalition forces to provide information and whereabouts of militants and insurgent activities.
[...]
'There's been displeasure from folks whose names appeared there,' Lapan said. 'Anyone whose name appears in those documents is at risk. It could be a threat to their lives, or to their future conduct' in support of coalition forces. |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/qDk9O |
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The results of this damage review undercut the testimony of each of the representatives from the OCA for the charge documents in this case. Specifically, the damage assessments concluded that all the information allegedly leaked was either dated, represented low-level opinions, or was commonly understood and known due to previous public disclosures. |
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Name(s:) |
David Coombs |
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Title: |
civilian defense counsel |
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Url: |
Url Link
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XXXXXXXXXX [ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will testify that the Afghanistan and Iraq SIGACT releases did not reveal any sensitive intelligence sources or methods. He will also testify that the Department of Defense could not point to anyone in Afghanistan or Iraq harmed due to the documents released by WikiLeaks. He will testify that the Afghanistan and Iraq SIGACTs are simply ground-level field reports that document dated activities which do not disclose sensitive information or our sources and methods. XXXXXXXXXX [ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will also testify that the initial public descriptions of the harm to foreign policy due to the publication of diplomatic cables were 'fairly significantly overwrought.' He will also testify that although the disclosures were embarrassing and awkward, they did not represent significant consequences to foreign policy. Finally, XXXXXXXXXX [ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will testify that on 29 July 2010, he directed the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to lead a comprehensive review of the documents allegedly given to WikiLeaks and to coordinate under the Information Review Task Force (IRTF, formerly TF 725) to conduct a complete damage review. He will testify that the damage review confirmed that the alleged leaks represented a low to at best moderate risk to national security. Specifically, that all of the information allegedly leaked was either dated, represented low-level opinions, or was already commonly understood and know due to previous public disclosures. |
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Name(s:) |
David Coombs |
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Title: |
civilian defense counsel |
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Url: |
Url Link
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The Secretary also tasked the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency to stand up an Information Review Task Force to assess, in concert with interagency participants, the substance of the data disclosed. |
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Name(s:) |
Teresa Takai, Thomas Ferguson |
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Title: |
Chief Information Officer, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Concerning: |
Defense Intelligence Agency Information Review Task Force, DIA, IRTF |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Although outsiders have not been allowed to inspect the 'war room' in suburban Virginia and see its staff at work, national-security officials offered details of the operation to The Daily Beast, including the identity of the counterintelligence expert who has been put in charge: Brig. General Robert A. Carr of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
[...]
Officials say Carr, handpicked for the assignment by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is highly respected among his colleagues at DIA...
[...]
Carr served in Afghanistan for much of last year before his transfer to the DIA in Washington, where he runs the Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center. In his battle against Assange, officials say, Carr's central assignment is to try to determine exactly what classified information might have been leaked to WikiLeaks, and then to predict whether its disclosure could endanger American troops in the battlefield, as well as what larger risk it might pose to American foreign policy.
The team has another distinct responsibility: to gather evidence about the workings of WikiLeaks that might someday be used by the Justice Department to prosecute Assange and others on espionage charges.
[...]
Lapan said that, so far, the Pentagon has no evidence to suggest that any Afghan civilians have been harmed by the Taliban as a result of the release of the 76,000 logs this summera bit of good news that, he suggested, might be attributed to the efforts of Carr's team and Central Command to try to protect them. |
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Name(s:) |
Philip Shedon |
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Title: |
Journalist |
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Agency(ies): |
Daily Beast |
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Concerning: |
Defense Intelligence Agency, Information Review Task Force, DIA, IRTF |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Marine Colonel David Lapan, a senior Pentagon spokesman, said the leaders of the task force believed they had a strong sense of what is contained in the 15,000 documents that Assange is threatening to release shortly.
'We believe we probably know what's in those,' he said. 'And we believe, again, that they will pose some risk to our forces in Afghanistan and to others.'
[...]
'It was their task to go through that initial release of the 76,000 documents and determine what information in each of them might put either livesor sources and methods, or operational securityat risk,' Lapan said of Carr's operation.
The team's assessments, he said, are passed to the United States Central Command, the military command that oversees American troops in Afghanistan, 'so they can get it out to folks in the field to take whatever steps are necessary' to protect American troops and Afghan civilians whose identities are revealed by the logs. |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Concerning: |
Defense Intelligence Agency Information Review Task Force, DIA, IRTF |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Title: |
DOD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Adm. Mullen from the Pentagon (November 30, 2010) |
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Author: |
Public Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
Public Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense |
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Archive Link |
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It's absolutely false that WikiLeaks contacted the White House and offered to have them look through the documents,' Marine Corps Col. David Lapan said. |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/Ekp6s |
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Title: |
Official Rejects Claim WikiLeaks Offered Document Review |
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Author: |
Michael Carden |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
American Forces Press Service, Department of Defense |
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Archive Link |
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Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said the department does not know for sure what Wikileaks will publish, but officials expect the same type of documents the organization put on the Internet in July about the Afghan conflict.
[...]
The potential breach is dangerous, but not fatal, Lapan said, noting neither the Iraq, nor Afghanistan data bases contain intelligence sources and methods. |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/b8rMM |
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That said, the period covered by these reports has been well-chronicled in news stories, books and films and the release of these field reports does not bring new understanding to Iraq's past,' Morrell added. |
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Name(s:) |
Geoff Morrell |
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Title: |
Press Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Pentagon, Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/b8rMM |
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A DOD task force has been combing through the Iraq data base to assess the damage that a proposed WikiLeaks publication of 400,000 significant activity reports could pose to the U.S. military, Iraqi allies, and on-going operations. |
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Name(s:) |
Jim Garamone |
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Agency(ies): |
American Forces Press Service, Department of Defense |
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Concerning: |
Defense Intelligence Agency Information Review Task Force, DIA, IRTF |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/b8rMM |
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Despite WikiLeaks' attempt to redact the names of Iraqi informants from its recent leak of classified military reports, some of those people are still in danger, a Pentagon spokesman said today.
[...]
'We had identified 300 or so people whose names were [mentioned in the documents] that possibly would be put at risk if their names were published,' Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said.
[...]
Of that group, he added, the names were removed but 'in a few dozen cases there's still information that could identify those people.'
[...]
Such remaining information includes job titles, he said.
[...]
The U.S. Central Command has the names of those potentially at risk and 'is deciding whether they're going to make notifications or not,' Lapan said.
[...]
A joint task force led by the Defense Intelligence Agency is comparing the original with redacted documents, he said, to assess the damage that WikiLeaks' publication of the classified Iraq significant-activities reports, called the SIGACTS data base, could pose to the U.S. military, Iraqi allies and current operations. |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Concerning: |
Iraq War Logs |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/8HJGl |
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COL. DAVID LAPAN (deputy assistant secretary of defense for media operations): Good morning here at the Pentagon, and good evening in Afghanistan. I'd like to welcome to the Pentagon Briefing Room Brigadier General Joseph Osterman, the commanding general of Task Force Leatherneck and the First Marine Division Forward.
As part of Regional Command Southwest, Task Force Leatherneck is comprised of approximately 10,700 personnel, and is responsible for all U.S. Marine ground forces and the Georgian 32nd Infantry Battalion in Helmand province.
General Osterman assumed his duties in Afghanistan in March. This is his first time joining us in this format. He joins us today from his headquarters at Camp Leatherneck in the central Helmand province to provide an update on current operations. General Osterman will make some opening comments, and then he will take your questions. |
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Name(s:) |
Dave Lapan |
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Title: |
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/8o0BZ |
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Q General, it's Al Pessin from VOA again.
I wanted to ask you about two things that have been in the news in the last week or so. One is the court rulings on 'don't ask, don't tell' that invalidated and then reinstated the policy. Was that noticed out at the FOBs and COPs in your region? And if so, did it create any disruption or any confusion?
And then, the other is the WikiLeaks documents that talked about U.S. forces in Iraq perhaps not doing enough to stop prisoner abuse by Iraqi forces. I want to know if you have any concerns about how Afghan forces treat their prisoners. And what are your orders to your Marines if they become aware of any abuses?
GEN. OSTERMAN: Okay. Well, I'll start with the 'don't ask, don't tell.' The -- really, here down on the ground level here in Afghanistan, there is no impact at all. I think it's safe to say that most of the Marines and sailors of all -- Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen that I have underneath my charge really are not that aware of a lot of the dialogue that's going on. You've got to remember that most of my Marines are living in 15-man patrol bases where they're lucky to have some running -- some fresh water, you know, in terms of a pump, or some kind of shelter over their head beyond a tent. So as a result, they are not that -- I would say there's not that much information that's coming down to them.
And I also don't know that they necessarily would take it as problematic in terms of the dialogue. They understand that, as Marines, we'll follow the -- whatever laws are in place, and also whatever policies are promulgated by the Secretary of Defense. So really, basically, we'll follow, you know, whatever policy is promulgated there and move on.
As far as the WikiLeaks, that really has had no impact at all on us. Frankly, I personally just read about it in the news, but have not, you know, even visited the website or anything like that. So I'd say it's no impact from that.
And getting to the prisoner situation, that -- we closely monitor the taking of detainees. We don't maintain any long-term detainees here within the field forces. They're allowed to keep them for 96 hours, and then we move -- if they need to be detained beyond that point, we'll move them up to a regulated detention facility that has longer-term capability, that are run by coalition forces.
We do -- because we're closely aligned with our Afghan partners, we do have visibility of the detainees that they take as well. There have been very minor instances where we didn't feel as though they were treating the prisoners correctly. And the Marines have orders to intervene, frankly, and stop that immediately. And once they stop that, they then try to educate the -- whether it be a police officer or an Afghan soldier, educate them on the proper way to conduct detainee operations. And that seems to have worked very well. Most of them, frankly, don't understand all of the rules and regulations associated with that, so the Marines end up providing the mentorship to them, just like they do for combat operations or for patrolling or anything else. We just view that as part of our responsibility to create them as a respected and viable force within the community. |
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Name(s:) |
Joseph Osterman |
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Title: |
Commanding General |
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Agency(ies): |
Task Force Leatherneck, First Marine Division Forward, Department of Defense |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/8o0BZ |
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