Photostream: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates meets Turkish Defense Minister Mehmet Vecdi Gonul

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates (R) presents Turkish Defense Minister Mehmet Vecdi Gonul with the American-Turkish Council Distinguished Defense Award during the American-Turkish Council's 29th Annual Conference on US -Turkish relations October 18, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Photo : MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, presents the Distinguished Defense Award to Turkey's Minister of National Defense Vecdi Gonul, during a ceremony at the American-Turkish Council's 29th annual conference on US Turkey relations, Monday, Oct. 18, 2010 in Washington. (Getty Images /AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks at the American-Turkish Council's 29th Annual Conference on US -Turkish relations October 18, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images / AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN )

Turkish Defense Minister Mehmet Vecdi Gonul listens as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks at the American-Turkish Council's 29th Annual Conference on US -Turkish relations October 18, 2010 at a hotel in Washington, DC. (Photo : MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Gates: No sensitive info in Wikileaks Afghan papers

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates walks off his plane at Al-Assad Air Base in Iraq September 1, 2010, on a surprise visit as the the U.S. Army officially ends its combat mission in Iraq. Photo : Reuters/Jim Watson/Pool

October 17, 2010 (KATAKAMI / Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the unauthorized release of some 70,000 classified documents about the Afghanistan war did not reveal sensitive information, but could endanger Afghans who helped the United States, U.S. media reported Sunday.

Gates made his assessment in an August 16 letter to Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, after the website Wikileaks released the documents in July. The New York Times and CNN both were given access to the letter.

"The initial assessment in no way discounts the risk to national security," Gates wrote. "However, the review to date has not revealed any sensitive intelligence sources and methods compromised by the disclosure."
Gates also said disclosing the names of cooperating Afghans, who could become targets for the Taliban, could cause "significant harm or damage to national security interests of the United States."

Wikileaks, which says it is a non-profit organization funded by human rights campaigners, journalists and the general public, came under intense criticism for releasing the Afghan war papers.

Photostream : U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Hanoi

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates reviews an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony prior to the opening of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Defense Ministers meeting with their main counterparts in Hanoi on October 12, 2010. (Getty Images)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reviews an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony prior to the opening of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Defense Ministers meeting with their main counterparts in Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. (Getty Images)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reviews the guard of honor during the welcoming ceremony at the National Convention Center before the first Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers Meeting Plus in Hanoi October 12, 2010. (Getty Images)

Vietnam's Minister of Defense General Phung Quang Thanh (L) introduces U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (2nd L) to (from right) Admiral Hien, Lt. Gen. Khue , and Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh on October 11, 2010 at the Vietnam Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietnam. Gates is in the region to attend a meeting of defense ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region. (Getty Images)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates,(L) and Vietnam's Minister of Defense General Phung Quang Thanh during a press conference at the Vietnam Ministry of Defense on October 11, 2010 at the Vietnam Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietnam. Gates is in the region to attend a meeting of defense ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region. (Getty Images)

China's Defense Minister Liang Guanglie (R) and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates pose for a photo before their meeting in Hanoi October 11, 2010. Liang and Gates are in Hanoi for the first ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus this week. (Getty Images)