The United States Armed Forces is certainly not brushing the WikiLeaks controversy aside. According to a report on the Voice of America, the Pentagon has sought the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as it makes an effort to get to the bottom of how the thousands of documents found its way online.

A press briefing was conducted at the Pentagon on Thursday, with no less than Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen. Both the Secretary Gates and Adm. Mullen spoke about the WikiLeaks issue; Gates revealed that he as sought the assistance of the FBI in the investigation.

Like President Obama, Gates mentioned that the issues that were being highlighted by the leaked documents were “old news”. And like the President, he also talked about the repercussions of the leak, saying: “The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world.”

He further expressed concern about trust: “Will people trust us?  Will people whose lives are on the line trust us to keep their identities secret?  Will other governments trust us to keep their documents and their intelligence secret?”

Adm. Mullen was infuriated, not just about the leak but about the fact that the documents were published. He spoke out against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: “Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family.”