WikiLeaks repeatedly shows itself to be one of the most honest journalistic organizations on the planet, uncovering vast swaths of truth with the utmost integrity, responsibility, and care. The Afghan War Diary is a huge document, and WikiLeaks' strategy as "the first stateless news organization" (see Press Think link) has been to release it primarily through three reputable mass media partners. This is the main site for the War Diary, which can be browsed by a range of criteria.

Fascinating database of over 91,000 military reports about the Afghan war, just released by WikiLeaks. This special site lets you browse these records in a variety of ways, including severity of the reported incidents (half of them are deemed severe). Wikileaks doesn't offer extensive analysis of this data, but points to some good articles from its media partners at the NYTimes, Der Spiegel and The Guardian. (see links)

I was intimidated by over 70,000 military reports, but in reading the 'cover letter' (which is all that I'm reviewing), I found that Wikileaks has made these documents as accessible as possible by putting them into a user-friendly searchable database, and providing pop-up tips to explain many acronyms. With escalation of the longest war in U.S. history in the midst of a 'great recession', it's imperative that the public get the full story, and this is a key tool.

How can I praise? The description of events in the messages is often rather short and terse. To grasp the reporting style, it is helpful to understand the conditions under which the messages are composed and sent. Often they come from field units who have been under fire or under other stressful conditions all day and see the report-writing as nasty paperwork, that needs to be completed with little apparent benefit to expect. So the reporting is kept to the necessary minimum, with as little type-work as possible. Excellent!

This article is to the point, but the diaries speak for themselves.