By Patrick Gower
The war in Afghanistan has been hit by a massive leak of more than 90,000 secret military documents to the website Wikileaks, which show the ugly side of the US-led invasion.
The leak has been condemned by the White House, but references to New Zealand show our troops in a good light.
The war has been raging for a almost a decade, and today the military invasion led by the US was blown wide open.
The documents reveal unreported killings of Afghan civilians and details of secret missions to kill Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders.
"It will show the true nature of this war, and the public from Afghanistan and other nations can see what's going on and take steps to address the problems," says Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks.
Wikileaks is an international whistleblowing organisation, best-known for showing a graphic video of US forces opening fire on a group of men and children in Iraq.
This time it's opened up over 90,000 files documenting incidents from the Afghanistan with a handful relating to New Zealand's involvement.
They show:
- New Zealand soldiers defused a live IED, or roadside bomb;
- Attended an explosion where the bomb was carried by bicycle;
- Some - but not all - army vehicles have radio-jamming equipment to protect against Taliban bombs;
- Defence Minister Wayne Mapp's Hercules received a missile warning on its way into Kabul and had to let off anti-heat-seeking flares;
- And details are given of a meeting with the commanding general of the war, where concerns where raised about the "negative influence" of Iran in Bamiyan, where New Zealand is posted - all of which seemed news to Prime Minister John Key.
The leaks relating to New Zealand appear relatively inconsequential. Mr Key will be pleased to learn New Zealand has not been caught doing anything nasty, but will not like the reminder of the kind of war the Government is supporting.
3 News
Read 3news.co.nz editor James Murray's blog on the latest Wikileaks leak here.