Jeremy Scahill: WikiLeaks Cables Confirm Secret US War in Pakistan

Jeremy Scahill: WikiLeaks Cables Confirm Secret US War in Pakistan

Jeremy Scahill: WikiLeaks Cables Confirm Secret US War in Pakistan

When Jeremy Scahill reported on a secret US war in Pakistan last year, the Pentagon called his article "conspiratorial." But now, says Scahill on Democracy Now!, the latest WikiLeaks diplomatic cables dump confirms his reporting.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

In his most recent article, "The (Not So) Secret (Anymore) War in Pakistan," The Nation‘s Jeremy Scahill explains how the diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks confirm aspects of a story about the covert US war in Pakistan that he published in The Nation last November.

Scahill joined Democracy Now! hosts Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez Thursday to reflect on the Pentagon’s history of denying covert activity in Pakistan and Yemen (Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell called Scahill’s article from last year "conspiratorial" when it first appeared) and to speculate on possible reactions in Pakistan to these new cables.

According to Scahill, spokespersons for the US government who deny US military actions in Pakistan are either "out of the loop…or lying because US special operations forces have been operating in an offensive capacity in Pakistan basically since 9/11. And some would say even before 9/11 there were US covert operations going on there." 

Scahill also disagrees that WikiLeaks is to blame for putting people’s lives in danger, when it is US policies and the cooperation of the Pakistani and Yemeni governments that’s actually endangering lives.

—Joanna Chiu

Hold the powerful to account by supporting The Nation

The chaos and cruelty of the Trump administration reaches new lows each week.

Trump’s catastrophic “Liberation Day” has wreaked havoc on the world economy and set up yet another constitutional crisis at home. Plainclothes officers continue to abduct university students off the streets. So-called “enemy aliens” are flown abroad to a mega prison against the orders of the courts. And Signalgate promises to be the first of many incompetence scandals that expose the brutal violence at the core of the American empire.

At a time when elite universities, powerful law firms, and influential media outlets are capitulating to Trump’s intimidation, The Nation is more determined than ever before to hold the powerful to account.

In just the last month, we’ve published reporting on how Trump outsources his mass deportation agenda to other countries, exposed the administration’s appeal to obscure laws to carry out its repressive agenda, and amplified the voices of brave student activists targeted by universities.

We also continue to tell the stories of those who fight back against Trump and Musk, whether on the streets in growing protest movements, in town halls across the country, or in critical state elections—like Wisconsin’s recent state Supreme Court race—that provide a model for resisting Trumpism and prove that Musk can’t buy our democracy.

This is the journalism that matters in 2025. But we can’t do this without you. As a reader-supported publication, we rely on the support of generous donors. Please, help make our essential independent journalism possible with a donation today.

In solidarity,

The Editors

The Nation

Ad Policy
x