Sweden edition

Bildt: 'No sensations' in big US leak

Published: 26 Jul 10 20:40 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/28010/20100726/

Sweden’s foreign minister, Carl Bildt, has said the contents of top-secret American documents about the war in Afghanistan are "not sensational."

Sahlin makes first visit to Afghanistan (26 Jul 10)
Bildt urges civilian changes in Afghanistan (21 Jul 10)
Rocket attack forces Bildt to divert (20 Jul 10)

Bildt, who has not yet read the documents himself, said they appeared to contain little new information.

"It's sensational because it's a leak, not because the leak contains any sensations. I have not seen anything in this material which changes anything in my assessment of what’s happening in the reality of the war," Bildt told Svenska Dagbladet at a meeting in Brussels.

The Swedish military, which currently has about 500 troops in Afghanistan and has had a presence there since 2002, is referred to several times in the documents. Many such references relate to attacks against Swedish troops and the work of the military in disarming makeshift bombs, known as improvised explosive devices (IED).

According to Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter, which have both combed the material for references to Sweden, the most up-to-date reports on Swedish forces contained in the material date from 2009.

Teams from the Swedish Armed Forces are currently going through the documents to see whether they contain anything damaging.

"This is secret material and it is therefore not advantageous if it is spread to those who wish to harm us. It's therefore wise to go through things like this," Armed Forces spokesman Roger Magnergård told Dagens Nyheter.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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22:59 July 26, 2010 by goodbyeammar

NO, NO, You cannot be civilian if you are black-haired and dark skinned.

Civilians are only those with blond hair and blue eyes.

If you are an Arab or if you belong to the Orient, you cannot be civilians, you cannot be a human being!

It is allowed to bomb you, shell you and shower you with white phosphorous.

If you are dark skinned, especially if you are an Arab or Muslim, you are not allowed to defend your country. If you do so, they will call you terrorist, extremist and so on and so forth.

Those savage who fly to Afghanistan from Europe and USA, they go there to turn the country into killing filed. They are allowed to use heavy fire against anyone (like the Swedish troops for example). These savage animals care about human rights in their countries, they want to make their countries paradise, and when the appetite for killing and raping rise on their body, they go to Afghanistan and Iraq. At the end of the day, Afghanis cannot be civilians. They are blue-eyes and blond-haired!

Have you ever seen a civilian with a dark skin? It is not possible!

Report abuse »

23:29 July 26, 2010 by zircon

Wazzup now, Mr Bildt?

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01:21 July 27, 2010 by eZee.se

@goodbyeammar,

Thanks for that good laugh, its nice to see a deluded post now and again.

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01:25 July 27, 2010 by Open Minded

It would be wise to read them all in the context first and later issue a fatwa, We should not kiss the US azz or try to hide their crimes against children and innocent civilian and we should be truthful and we should stand for the human rights, if any loser (taliban/us/uk Army mm) violate this law, they should be punished for their crime.

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05:32 July 27, 2010 by leroy

And who cares what Bildt thinks hes just a Swedish pig and is not in the game at all.

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08:16 July 27, 2010 by arslan11

US, Pakistan and India are officially ally in war against terror.. But they don't trust and blame eachother. Most importently CIA, ISI and RAW, all are playing double game..

If India and US stop infiltrating in Baluchistan and funding Pakistani Taliban resulting in almost daily bomb blasts in major pakistani cities then ISI might also stop supporting Afghan Taliban..

will that happen?? I think NO

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09:26 July 27, 2010 by americanska

I like how the local turns a "no comment" from a swedish politician into an excuse to write about things outside of sweden.

No one else notice the fact that he didn't even read it?

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09:47 July 27, 2010 by vikas_vikky

@ arslan11 This guy is definitely from Pak, just see how brain washed he is. The whole world has already shown millions of proof of Pak govt and ISI supporting terrorism and using it as a Money Milking Cow. And Indian govt has been asking repeatedly over and over and over to show one such real so called proof of India's involvement in Balochistan and still never had they shown anything. See its simple you can only prove something if it exists in the first place. Even Mr.Qureshi in a press conference ducked the challenge by Indian Foreign minister when asked pls show us one proof we are still waiting. HEHe! pls come out of that burqa and see who is actually behind all the terrorist activities in the world.

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09:48 July 27, 2010 by Cornelius Hamelberg

"Bildt, who has not yet read the documents himself, said they appeared to contain little new information."

As the Wilileaks chief made clear at the press conference yesterday, you can't believe everything that the CIA and them boys report.

http://www.israpundit.com/archives/25395

my two cents worth:

http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushame...ble-carl-bildt/

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#10

09:57 July 27, 2010 by Jan M

Worth reporting for a few reasons. Sweden has a Foreign Minister willing to make statements on documents he hasn't bothered reading - clearly a guy who takes his job really seriously. Sweden has a Foreign Minister who is prepared to make statements that contradict the reaction of every other country implicated by these documents and by the look of things a Swedish Armed Forces spokesman. In reality the documents give new insights into the atrocities of war committed by all sides and contain information not previously available to the Public. At some point somebody is going to drag Kalle off his high horse and destroy his career. At that stage he'll figure out how many true friends arrogance brings.

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#11

10:36 July 27, 2010 by MTTRN

I second that Mr Bild. The leaked documents are no big deal at all because everyone with a bit of brain knows terrorism was created and is supported by governments. The problem is this terrorism thing is wearing thin so they will have to come up with something new. Aliens anyone? Well I`m not buying into the alien crap either and that`s not because there are no aliens.

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#12

10:58 July 27, 2010 by Jan M

Message to any serving Swedish soldier from the last contributor. If you feel that your security/safety has been compromised in any way by these documents then people like the last contributor couldn't care less. Please feel free to forcibly remind him/her that you're making sacrifices for your country next time you encounter them because clearly talk is cheap and not effective. The same goes for Kalle by the way.

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#13

10:59 July 27, 2010 by clear

@vikas_vikky; You are definately from India, see how brain washed and ignorant you are. Whole world has also appreciated millions of times Pak Army and ISI for fighting against terrorism. Its Pak army who captured or killed most terrorists in the whole worldn and sacrifised most lives and on contrary India is palying dirty game in Afghanistan this also whole world knows. About Balochistan, Indian prime minister already admitted to talk about Indain interference at Sharm-ul-Shiekh meeting with Pak PM, which clearly indiactes their involvement BTW India also did not admitted interference in East Pakistan either. You Indians are already half naked in "Sarhi" and soon this will be tear apart and the whole world will see "Shining India"

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#14

11:47 July 27, 2010 by europeman31

it is easy to press on keyboard rather to stand against this humanity crime. and as @goodbyeammar mentioned those children and women were not civilians so why should world cares ?

this 2nd Holocaust will never end since the victims are not from West.

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#15

12:08 July 27, 2010 by MTTRN

@ Jan M

I understand you didn`t get the irony in my post. What I `m saying is that I don`t need some leaked documents screaming "TERRORISTS ARE SPONSORED AND TRAINED BY GOVERNMENTS" to know that this is the case. Any person with just a bit of common sense can work this out with the help of well known facts.

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#16

12:41 July 27, 2010 by theibmsstate2000

@vikas_vikky

indians have much problems with pakistanis. bt u indian will never be successful in ur aims you should know this.indians should 1st give food to thier ppl coz in india poverty rate is very high even poor ppl eat rats etc.so indian should spend money on poor ppl and make thier living standard better.indians should not think abt pakistan.india cannt do nothing with pakistan keep in ur mind. in kashmir indian army killed how many innocent ppl since in 60 years is this indian army terrorism.shame on u indian find food for ur people first.pakistan has proof that india interfere in pakistan.pakistan is small but very powerful wat u cannt think.pakistan had defeated russia so just think baby.

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#17

13:16 July 27, 2010 by vikas_vikky

@theibmsstate2000 For ur Kind info India never involved in others business unless others disturb theirs. I think you don't see news or read them carefully. Have you ever read any news where it said there has been terrorist attack in any part of the world and the people were from India. But just type terrorist in google and you will find all the references to Pakistan. Not even Afghanistan much coz the terrorism in Afghanistan was just started by Pakistan. And why should India even do anything to Pak. Did u hear Indian terrorists attacked some place in Pakistan NO. But Pak terrorists attack India there are hundreds of instances with proof that they are supported by ur govt. Does someone have right to talk about human rights in Kashmir when the person comes from such a place where there is no definition of Human rights or Democracy or Justice system. Reference from Pakistani friends who said this. We may have some minor problems which are one in 1000 but in ur case its 1 in 1. Since you cant provide people with any good chance of earning a living so as their last resort they turn to terrorism. And you talk that Pak is powerful. Joke isnt it. Every year if the US dont lend you money even ur govt dont have money to eat. Who is poor??? Lets see if you can survive if US stops giving money for few years. Then people will eat other humans for lack of food.

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#18

15:18 July 27, 2010 by saab

@Ammar, Open Minded, Europewoman et al. Try searching on Taliban execution videos (YouTube or Google) for a change. Before 9/11, the Taliban was stoning, beheading and slaughtering innocents in Afghanistan. If you did not wear a burqa, if you were listening to music, if you diseented in any way...your throat was slit or you were stoned. In public. Children too. Yes, life was good then. Would have made Pol Pot wonder "Why didn't I think of that?". So your rhetoric is, as usual, hypocritical.

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#19

15:26 July 27, 2010 by Audrian

Sweden is an invading force. If the information leaked to the public is new to Bldt, then there is something wrong with his performance as a foreign minister. It cannot be new to him.

The public is the intended target of the leak. It let us know that war crime is being committed on our behalf. Sweden should withdraw and keep away from America's imperial wars, because they have no end.

The US is preparing for the next legs of its wars, North Kore and Iran. North Korea is unlikly to go down without killing a couple of million Americans. It looks that America might begin with Iran, since Russia has abondoned Iran in favor of strengthening relations with the US. Why the US is hesitant about invading Iran is that it does not know whether Iran has nuclear weapons or not. As you can see America's foreign policy encourages nuclear bomb proliferation!

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#20

17:20 July 27, 2010 by LeoKinmann

@ Audrian

Good point there. It makes sense if Carl Bildt gained first-hand knowledge on the war due to his position.

I dont think US hesitation on Iran comes from Iran's possible possession of nuclear weapons. The prime factor is money, or oil to be frank. In the wake of the Iraq war, the oil price soared as a result of unrest in mideast. Russia still have substantial amount of oil and natural gas of their own. If US invades Iran right now, the oil price will skyrocket. This move chokes the American economy along with its infrastructure, which all depend heavily on low-price fossil fuel. Russia actually wants US to attack Iran. By doing so, they can raise their depot of oil and natural gas to astronimical levels. Russia has everything to gain in exchange for a disobedient pawn. They can make US suffer, they can gain a tighter grip on European countries who depend on their energy resources, and make big money in the process.

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#21

19:36 July 27, 2010 by Jan M

Good point. I guess he knew about the rendition flights too.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/20/AR2005052001605.html

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#22

21:58 July 27, 2010 by theibmsstate2000

@viky_vikas

1st take care abt ur country and ur ppl. india interfere in pakistan and afghanistan.

poor indian eat rats if usa stop aid on india than wat u indian will eat.make ur ppl life standard in a good way. even in india u dont give rights to the muslims.. in mumbai no muslim cannt buy home.whyyyyy. dont think india is perfect country we know in sweden 10 indian students live in 1 room.u think ur powerful if usa dont support you ,than india is zero sir.

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#23

22:30 July 27, 2010 by Cornelius Hamelberg

goodbyeammar,

They're still looking for the weapons of mass destruction...

Some good news for you:

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&...amp;q=Hans+Blix

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#24

09:17 July 28, 2010 by americanska

ah yes audrian - the imperial wars of the usa.

I know it' shard for europeans to wrap there heads around the fact that the US doesn't go to war intending to take over. The US goes to war for two reasons, to bring freedom to the local citizens and the defeat terrorists.

Unfortunately a side effect is that we end up protecting the arrogant ungrateful fools like yourself as well.

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#25

10:17 July 28, 2010 by arslan11

Pakistan ISI supports Taliban to attack their General Headquarters and kill in-service Army Generals?? More than 10,000 army personal of Pakistan are dead in fight against taliban.. who is funding taliban to attack Pakistan Secret Service (ISI) offices???

ISI was sincere with US and NATO at the beginning of Afghan war but west hypocrycy forced it to change policy..

Now result = Defeat for US, NATO and Pakistan // win for taliban

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#26

10:18 July 28, 2010 by MTTRN

@americanska

You must be having a laugh. Have you seen that Apache chopper on Wikileaks/youtube/google killing civilians in Iraq for no apparent reason. Why don`t stick to what you can do best- watching "Friends" or "Depserate housewives" all day and nght and leave the real world problems to people who actually care.

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#27

10:32 July 28, 2010 by Kooritze

@audrian.........I agree with you all the way

@americanska........please take your nationalist blinkers off.

The USA as always is acting in its own national intrest in all the conflicts it gets involved in........in the case of recent wars it is an issue of resources.......Iraq for oil, Afghan for an oil pipeline to bring Azeri oil to western markets avoiding unfriendly territories. Iran to come is a double whammy.....oil and a continuation of the status quo of Israeli power in the region.

As for the delusional idea that the west is doing all this to spread democracy and liberty............most people are starting to see the real game!

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#28

12:49 July 28, 2010 by americanska

If we went to Iraq for oil then why don't we have the oil?

of course we do it for our own interest - ie. protecting americans. but we end up protecting everyone else too....shame on us. you can start spending the money yourself for your own defence. i would rather see that happen.

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#29

13:52 July 28, 2010 by LeoKinmann

That's because the Bush administration miscalculated. They hoped to control Iraq within a short amount of time thus pumping the oil and ship it stateside. What they didn't anticipate is the massive scale of unrest the invasion generated. If the sole motive was liberation of citizens from dictatorship and anti-terrorism then Iran should've been attacked long ago. Sending some detachment over from Iraq to Iran is not difficult. I'm sure among the ranks of the US military there are idealists like you. But the ugly truth is, you are being used by the cohort of realist who pull the string and make big business of war. I recall a quote from Bill Vaughn: "A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote in a national election". By waging war in Iraq/Afghanistan you are not really protecting anybody in Sweden, cos Sweden is not on anybody's radar. Sweden end up protecting the refugees from these war zones. What made these people refugees in the first place? And who bombed their homes, killed their relatives in an act quickly dismissed as collateral damage? Who is protectign who?

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#30

00:42 July 29, 2010 by Kooritze

The first casualty of war...is the truth.

And there sure has been a lot of lies and propaganda flying around since the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

If anyone still believes these wars are about spreading democracy, liberty and freedom then it just goes to show how well media propaganda works. It,s no great suprise that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world.........it,s taken a while but it is being exploited now for western markets.

Iran has big reserves too..........I take a guess at an not publicly announced US approval for an initial Israeli strike coupled with some propaganda spin for the western public.

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#31

09:15 July 29, 2010 by americanska

people like you have been saying it's a "war for oil" since the beginning. so don't try to make yourself out to be someone that has come to that conclusion over time.

you took a a side simply because you hate The US. not unlike most people on this wall.

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#32

12:44 July 29, 2010 by LeoKinmann

Oh I love US of A, at least some of her states. I stayed on the east coast for a year, and absolutely loved the way people interact with each other. Coming from an unique background makes you stand out instead of left alone, like it happens so often in Sweden. Not a big fan of Texas tho. The first night we got to Houston on road trip, we lived in an over-regulated hostel. It got notes posted everywhere, even one saying how you should mix a vinegar/spice mixture to wash your stinky feet. That was ridiculous and hilarious. However, like Mark Twain said and Obama recited, "Patriotism is supporting your country at all times and supporting your government when they deserve it." When the government is obviously lying, a true patriot should not blink twice before calling the lie. Opposing the war doesn't equal hating US as a whole.

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#33

13:22 July 29, 2010 by Kooritze

I do not hate the USA nor my own country the UK either.........both have a great culture, humor and values. However, these populations are manipulated by governments and are not told the truth. Many young people are losing their lives and health in conflicts to achieve a goal of a political agenda of power and influence over resources internationally. It is just so..........and nothing to do with personally hating particular nations.

@leokinmann.............great comment from you.

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#34

16:09 July 29, 2010 by americanska

The war sure wasn't for oil. the raw power of the US has, they could have just gone in and taken it. And probably not lost many amreican lives.

Butthe reason so many of our young men are dying is because we are training their police force and putting amerians soldiers in vulnerable sitution by doing so.

the war would have been executed in a completely different way if it was for oil.

@leokinmann - if you dislike texas because of a few rude poeple in a crappy hostel, you must really hate Sweden.

And hotels are cheap in the US - you don't need to say in a hostel.

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#35

23:52 July 31, 2010 by LeoKinmann

when talking about giving a good first impression, Texas did far worse than NYC, CA, or Boston. It's just my impression. Texas is like another country than North east. didnt feel any good vibe there. in US there are certainly more interaction than in Sweden. Sweden has a better social system. im trying to figure out whether i wanna trade one for the other. and the price for american hotels, they werent that cheap.

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