The information has left the closet. 90 000 of the reported 260 000 documents that Wikileaks have gotten access to lately became public yesterday. The ramifications for the war in Afghanistan itself could be huge and article after article will be written about it for the upcoming weeks, maybe even months. Beside the war, we could quite possibly also soon see changes in the general political situation in Afghanistan as well as in the countries involved in the US led operations.

I’m going to write a couple of posts on Wikileaks’s latest scoop over the upcoming days. Thus far, I have not had time to read up much on the new development and will stay off any judgements about that. What scares me is that some of these documents could indirectly pose a threat to the lives of thousands of the daughters and sons who are in Afghanistan and Pakistan right now. Hopefully they will not.

In a more local perspective, the possible effects are also highly intriguing. We are approaching the election for the Swedish parliament and it’s a race that is far from decided, with a blue coalition (liberal) fighting a red and green (socialist). The blue side has run the country for the past four years and have had a tough situation to handle during the financial crisis, which has given the reds a small lead for now.

Enter the military reform. Since this summer, we have a professional army after always (in modern times at least) having compulsory military service for men. To become more attractive, the Swedish Armed Forces recently went ahead with a large advertising campaign to lay the ground for this falls’ recruitment. But something went terribly wrong in a sense, as they came up with a campaign that angered many, including me. It was too macho and gave the impression that free speech was an option only available for those who are ‘tough enough’ to sign up for the forces.

Now add 2 and 2. Swedes start to think that our armed forces want to more Top Gun, more United States. Aggression and toughness become the lead words of the army in the minds of the public. Enter Wikileaks: 15 500 enemies, 4 200 civilians and 5 000 of UN and Afghan Army killed in a US lead war against terror. 4 200 civilians? 5 000 of ours and our friends’ forces? Lead by the bully country we want to be more like? And we are far from seeing an end to it all? The public do not care for the grey scales in Afghanistan, as they neither have the knowledge of how such a complex machine works, nor the time to process all information. Even I can’t say that I do, and I’m both interested and have insights from the inside. The general public will see the numbers and stop there – do you think that they will see it in black or white? Do you think they’ll like the association between the Swedish and US armed forces? The new aggressive image of the army could very well become a knife in its own back as the public grow w(e)ary.

So, where do we find the political opposition against the war? Primarily on the left wing. How long did it take for them to react? They already have. The leader of the Left Party of Sweden, Lars Ohly;

“This is evidence that the US military has something to hide and proves the absurdity of this warfare.” (SVT)

The Swedish skepticism against our presence in Afghanistan will most likely increase as days passes and the death count becomes public knowledge, and I believe that this will in fact decide the Swedish election this fall. The reds will win if the blues does not surprise us all and change their positive stance towards the war in Afghanistan. In a tight election race, ideological issues like this could be the difference between do and die. Plus, the money spent on fighting a controversial war could potentially be spent on caring for our children and elderly. The situation in Afghanistan matters and could change the outcome of the entire election. Meaning, Wikileaks latest move could potentially change our taxes, our health care, in which age our children first get grades in school, the price of our food and clothes and so on.

This is how important media still is to our society. Never, never believe anyone who says that journalism is dying. It is alive and it is kicking harder than ever.

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My own view on the war and our presence? I think Afghanistan needs our help to rebuild their country, and that sadly includes military support. I don’t care much about the past, the important thing is to secure the future of Afghani children. The American background in the country and around Islam as a religion is disturbing, and should absolutely affect how we do things – but not if we do them. Why Sweden should be there? Well, for one: the days when only our closest neighbors affected us are long gone, our kids’ future depend on the health of the global political arena. Second, we live in abundance and it’s our damn solidary duty to help those who live in despair.