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His and subsequent exposure of agents led Congress to pass the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, making it a crime to intentionally reveal the identity of a covert intelligence officer. Among the earliest expressions of outrage at the Afghan war leaks was from Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said he was appalled at the judgment of WikiLeaks.org website found Julian Assange and the unidentified provider of the secret documents. "The truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family," Mullen told a Pentagon news conference four days after the leak. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. has a moral responsibility to "those who have worked with and put their trust in us in the past, who now may be targeted for retribution." Last week during a visit aboard a Navy warship in San Diego, Gates told a sailor who asked about the seriousness of the WikiLeaks case: "We don't have specific information of an Afghan being killed yet because of them. But I put emphasis on the word
'yet.'" Gates' press secretary, Geoff Morrell, said the Pentagon is relaying names of Afghans exposed in the documents to U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan so they can "safeguard those people." It's not clear what steps the U.S. has taken to accomplish this. The issue could be magnified by an expected WikiLeaks posting soon of thousands of additional leaked documents. Administration officials have said those could be even more compromising. The vulnerability of locals who work with U.S. forces -- openly or secretly
-- is not just an issue in Afghanistan. A bipartisan group of congressmen and senators called on the Obama administration last week to urgently expand efforts to resettle Iraqis who have worked for U.S. agencies in Iraq, even saying an airlift should be considered. Many of the Iraqis will be targeted for assassination by al-Qaida in Iraq, they said. "Providing support for our Iraqi allies will advance U.S. national security interests around the world, particularly in Afghanistan, by sending a message that foreign nationals who support our work abroad can expect some measure of protection," the lawmakers wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
[Associated
Press;
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