Wikileaks Posts Secret Bomb-Stopper Report; Did They Go Too Far?

From The Danger Room:

In July, 2005, I asked a member of a Baghdad-based military bomb squad about the radio frequency jammers his team was using to cut off signals to Iraq's remotely-detonated explosives. His response: "I can't even begin to say the first fucking thing about 'em." A few days later, one of those jammers seemed to save me and him from getting blown up. Months after that, David Axe was thrown out of Iraq by the U.S. military, for a blog post which mentioned the Warlock family of jammers.

So I was more than a little surprised, when I saw that Wikileaks had posted a classified report, outlining how the Warlock Red and Warlock Green jammers work with -- and interfere with -- military communications systems. The report, dated 2004, gives specific information about how the jammers function, their radiated power, and which frequencies they stop. That Baghdad bomb tech would've put his fist through a wall, if he saw it out in public.

Read more ....

My Comment: Running this blog has given me access to information that has been at times jaw dropping. Future weapon systems, stupid decisions that resulted in the deaths of our servicemen, news reports on battlefields .... I have always weighed on the value and danger of releasing such information.

My policy has always been very straight forward .... if I ever came across an article that would make me feel uncomfortable, it was always spiked. I like to sleep well at night, and I am not looking to win some ego prize like a Pulitzer. People's lives are always at stake when it comes to intelligence and military news. Every reporter and blogger must appreciate this point, and they must add a caveat .... every reporter and blogger must work with the realization that what he reports will always be read by the other side.

As for this blog, I have always monitored the traffic to it, especially when there is breaking news such as a war (Georgia-Russia), or terrorism (Mumbai). I am sometimes surprised by the locations of some of my readers, and so will you.

Quetta (Pakistan), Kabul. Langley. Fort Bragg. Many places in Iraq. Washington D.C.. War zones in Africa, Sri Lanka, South Philippines, Gaza, etc. etc.. I am sure that most readers of this blog are just reading for information and news .... but I am also sure that many have less than altruistic intentions. If I had posted the story on how IEDs can be stopped .... this would have been known very quickly, and yes (I am sure) there will be blood on my hands.

No way is this going to happen in this blog. As for Wikileaks .... I hope they go to hell. As for David Axe at Defence Tech (a blog that I am always reading) .... he should have known better when he posted on Warlock's impact to stop IEDs .