Julian Assange didn't say whether he meant he had no idea
who leaked the documents or whether his organization simply could not be sure.
But he did say the added layer of secrecy helps protect the site's sources from
spy agencies and hostile corporations.
"We never know the source of the leak," he told
journalists gathered at London's Frontline Club late Tuesday. "Our whole
system is designed such that we don't have to keep that secret." US
officials said US operatives inside Afghanistan and Pakistan may be in danger
following the massive online disclosure Sunday.
In his first public comments, President Barack Obama said
the leak of classified information from the battlefield "could potentially
jeopardize individuals or operations." He spoke in Washington after
meeting Tuesday with Congressional leaders from both parties on the topic.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said a Pentagon
investigation will determine whether criminal charges will be filed in the
leaking of Afghanistan war secrets. Holder, speaking during a visit Wednesday
to Egypt, said the Justice Department is working with the Pentagon-led
investigation to determine the source of the leak.
In Baghdad, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, told reporters he was "appalled" by the leak.
"There is a real potential threat there to put
American lives at risk," he said.
While Assange acknowledged that the site's anonymous
submissions raised concerns about the authenticity of its material, he said
WikiLeaks had yet to be fooled by a bogus document.
"We do see wholly fabricated submissions, usually
around election time," he said, but added that they were "quite
rare." Assange added that WikiLeaks used ex-military and former
intelligence workers to help evaluate whether documents leaked from the armed
forces or spy agencies were genuine.
The Web site's worse fear, he said, was not a complete
forgery but a real document that had been subtly altered.
Still, he said he had yet to see that happen.
US officials are also worried that the raw data may prove
useful not only to the Taleban but to hostile intelligence services in
countries such as China and Russia who have the resources to make sense of such
vast vaults of data, said Ellen McCarthy, former US intelligence officer and
president of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.
Former CIA director Michael Hayden denounced the leak as
a gift to America's enemies.
"If I had gotten this trove on the Taleban or
Al-Qaeda, I would have called it priceless," he said. "If I'm head of
the Russian intelligence, I'm getting my best English speakers and saying:
'Read every document, and I want you to tell me, how good are these guys? What
are their approaches, their strengths, their weaknesses and their blind
spots?"'
Assange agreed that the files offered insight into US
tactics. But he said that was none of his concern, and his website already
carried a copy of the US Special Forces' 2006 Southern Afghanistan
Counterinsurgency Manual, among other military documents.
"We put out that stuff all the time," he said.
He seemed irritated when a member of the audience pressed
him on whether he believed there were ever any legitimate national security
concerns that would prevent him from publishing a leaked document.
"It is not our role to play sides for states. States
have national security concerns, we do not have national security
concerns," he said.
"You often hear ... that something may be a threat
to US national security," he went on. "This must be shot down,
whenever this statement is made. A threat to US national security? Is anyone
serious? The security of the entire nation of the United States? It is
ridiculous! But he admitted that individual cases were different.
"If we are talking a threat to individual soldiers
... or citizens of the United States, then that is potentially a genuine
concern," he said.
Assange cast a bit of light on the way his organization
operates, describing an online submission system "like nothing else you've
ever seen." "We encrypt all the information, it is routed through
protected legal jurisdictions, multiple servers," he said.
But, to the amusement of the audience, the former
computer hacker said one of the best ways to submit classified material
remained the international postal system.
His comments also offered insight into his own
motivation, referring to a statement he gave to German newspaper Der Spiegel in
which he said he "loved crushing bastards." He said the comment
wasn't meant in jest, describing himself as a combative person who likes
"stopping people who have created victims from creating any more."
Assange also expressed disdain for the military, invoking
a quotation attributed to mathematician and noted pacifist Albert Einstein that
describes soldiers as contemptible drones and attacks patriotism as a cover for
brutality and war.
He scoffed when the Frontline's moderator spoke of
teenage British soldiers "giving their lives" in Afghanistan.
"To what?" he asked.
