US says WikiLeaks release gives Al Qaeda a hit list [View All]

WASHINGTON — In a disclosure of some of the most sensitive information yet revealed by WikiLeaks, the website has put out a secret cable that lists sites worldwide that the US considers crucial to its national security.

US officials said the leak amounts to giving a hit list to terrorists.

Among the locations cited in the diplomatic cable from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are undersea communications lines, satellite communication stations, mines, vaccine and antivenin factories, and suppliers of food and manufacturing materials.

The Pentagon declined to comment yesterday on the details of what it called stolen documents containing classified information. But a spokesman, Colonel David Lapan, called the disclosure damaging and said the 2009 cable gives valuable information to adversaries.

The State Department echoed the Pentagon’s statement. “Releasing such information amounts to giving a targeting list to groups like Al Qaeda,’’ agency spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/12/07/us_says_wikileaks_release_gives_al_qaeda_a_hit_list/