They are known as the “Afghan War Diary” — over 91,000 classified reports documenting the War in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010 — recently published by a website known as Wikileaks.

The founder, Julian Assange, has come under fierce criticism from conservative politicians such as Arizona Senator John McCain, who called the release of the military records written primarily by American soldiers and intelligence officers a “serious breach of national security.”

In a July 26 interview with The Guardian UK, Assange defended the group’s actions by saying it is the role of good journalism to take on powerful abuses.

“It will show the true nature of this war, and the public from Afghanistan and other nations can see what’s really going on and take steps to address the problems,” Assange said.

The documents, published in the Guardian, The New York Times, and a German newspaper, purport to reveal possible support for al Qaeda and Afghan insurgents by Pakistani Intelligence Services.

The controversy is being compared to the 1970′s release of the “Pentagon Papers”, which exposed the government’s execution of the war in Vietnam.

According to the Wikileaks website, the material comes from “U.S. Army with the exception of most Special Forces activities. The reports do not generally cover top-secret operations or European and other ISAF Forces operations.”

The U.S. government has strongly condemned the disclosure of the classified material and said the action could put the lives of Americans and its partners at risk.

“Wikileaks made no effort to contact us about these documents – the United States government learned from news organizations that these documents would be posted,” said National Security Advisor General James Jones in a statement on Sunday. “These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people.”

In April, the website made news when it published a video called “Collateral Murder,” which claimed to be classified U.S. military footage from an Apache helicopter “depicting the indiscriminate slaying” of civilians — including two Reuters news staff.

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