White House: Wikileaks Documents Do Not Contain New Revelations

(NewsCore) - White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that while the leak of classified U.S. military documents Sunday was a breach of federal law and constitutes "a potential national security concern,” the material did not raise new questions or challenges.

“In terms of broad revelations, there aren’t any that we see in these documents,” Gibbs said, adding that the Obama administration has been aware of terrorist safe havens in Pakistan and has been concerned about civilian casualties.

The documents, published by the whistleblower website Wikileaks, appear to provide evidence that the U.S. is aware that Pakistan is helping insurgents in Afghanistan. Afghan lawmakers and cabinet ministers hoped the revelation would force the U.S. to take a tougher approach with Pakistan, The Wall Street Journal reported.

But Gibbs said Monday that while the White House believes its relationship with Pakistan has improved, President Barack Obama was “clear” in 2009 the U.S. would not be issuing a “blank check” for aid to Pakistan.

“We understand that the status quo is not acceptable,” Gibbs said.

The press secretary also highlighted the dates on the leaked reports, which span from January 2004 to December 2009 -- before Obama took office.

“I can’t speak for the conduct of that war from an operational perspective for most of that time,” Gibbs said, pointing out that Obama ordered an increase in the number of troops in Afghanistan when he came into office and “conducted a fairly comprehensive and painstaking review of our policy.”

Gibbs added the war in Afghanistan had been “neglected,” “underresourced” and “underfunded.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said late Monday charges should be brought against the source who leaked the documents.

McCain, a celebrated U.S. veteran and proponent of the war in Afghanistan, said the leak was a “serious breach of national security.”

“The source of this harmful leak within the U.S. government should face the full penalties of the law,” said McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He went on to dismiss most of the leaked information as "old news."

"This biased organization seeks to undermine the achievement of a vital national security interest that more than one thousand Americans have already given their lives to safeguard," he said in a statement.

"This is the height of irresponsibility, and all involved should be ashamed of themselves."