Kerry: Best Not To Overhype Wikileaks Scandal, Though It Does Endanger Americans

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) said today that it is important to not overhype the WikiLeaks story, and said the leaks have “no relation whatsoever” to the Pentagon Papers.

Kerry also said that the release of classified documents “breaks the law, undermines the job being done by our troops, and potentially puts people in harms way.” 

- Brandon Kosters

U.S Must Not Abandon Women And Minorities In Afghanistan, Says Former Ambassador

Ryan Crocker, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq under President Bush and current dean and executive professor at Texas A & M University’s George Bush School of Government and Public Service, testified before a Senate hearing today on “Perspectives on Reconciliation Options in Afghanistan.”

He said the U.S. “can’t abandon women and minorities” in Afghanistan. “We would be held responsible,” he said.

- Brandon Kosters

Senate To Tackle DISCLOSE Act Today

Later today, the Senate will hold a cloture vote to proceeed to consideration of the Van Hollen-Schumer DISCLOSE Act. The bill would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 via a series of reforms, including establishing additional disclosure requirements in terms of spending on elections.

The bill was contrived as a response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC in January of this year, in which the high court basically blocked a federal limit on corporate political spending.

Yesterday, President Barack Obama urged the Senate to pass the bill before adjourning for the August congressional recess…

BP To Sell $30 Billion In Assets

According to an article published today by the New York Times, BP has announced that it will sell $30 billion in assets by 2012 to pay for cleanup costs in the Gulf of Mexico.

The article said that while BP enjoyed a second-quarter profit of $4.4 billion last year, it has suffered a loss of $17 billion this second-quarter.

Also, the oil giant confirmed today that outgoing CEO Tony Hayward will be replaced by Bob Dudley, an American-born executive at the company…

- Brandon Kosters

WikiLeaks Release Has Top Pentagon Official Outraged

An article released by American Forces Press Service today says that Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has told the press that he is upset about the release of roughly 90,000 classified documents through WikiLeaks, saying that the leak endangers Americans.

Mullen did say, however, that the documents were written between 2004 and 2009, many of them field reports which documented events in Pakistan. 

Mullen said that he is determined to help prevent further leaks of this nature in the future.

- Brandon Kosters