Waiting on WikiLeaks: What Will It Release Next?

(Oct. 4) -- WikiLeaks, the online transparency organization, may still be getting lots of publicity, but for all the wrong reasons.

Rather than releasing new documents, the organization appears enmeshed in controversy. Its chief editor, Julian Assange, has been accused of rape in Sweden; a prominent spokesman has quit (after being suspended); and at least some volunteers appear to have abandoned the organization. In London last week, Assange responded to mounting criticisms by blaming the media.

In the meantime, WikiLeaks' website has essentially gone dark -- undergoing maintenance, according to a notice on the site -- and any new leaks have been on hold. That may be causing some frustration among potential leakers, according to comments posted on the website of Cryptome, another transparency organization that has been deeply critical of WikiLeaks.

"It's quite an important document as it shows misuse of taxpayers' money of a publicly funded organization in development aid in a western, democratic country," the anonymous user wrote in the chat posted on Cryptome.

Assange did not respond to e-mailed queries from AOL News about plans for upcoming disclosures, but here are some of the leaks that WikiLeaks -- or others -- have claimed it has that could be released at some point in the near future:

1) "Operation Dark Heart" (unredacted copy): Go to any bookstore and you can pick up this new memoir, based on Anthony Shaffer's account of working undercover for the Defense Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan, but be prepared for blacked out sentences. The Pentagon bought up the initial print run of the book and destroyed some 9,500 copies, and the publisher released a new version with Defense Department-requested redactions. WikiLeaks appears to have a copy of the original: "Burn all the books you want, Nazi punks. We already have a copy," the organization declared in one tweet.

2) Garani video: One of WikiLeaks' first big media coups was the release of dramatic footage of a helicopter gunship attack in Baghdad that killed two Iraqi employees of Reuters. In the weeks leading up to its release, many thought the video about to be released was actually of another incident, in Garani, Afghanistan, where a U.S. air strike killed dozens of civilians. Assange claims WikiLeaks has that video, too, but it has never been released.

3) Approximately 15,000 Afghan war documents. This summer, WikiLeaks attracted worldwide attention when it released some 76,000 documents related to the war in Afghanistan. At that time, WikiLeaks announced it was withholding from release another 15,000 documents that were deemed sensitive and required further review. The organization faced criticism from the U.S. government and independent organizations for endangering Afghan civilians named in the initial release of documents. Since that time, however, WikiLeaks has not announced any new information about the possible release of those additional documents. It was widely suspected that an encrypted file marked simply "insurance" might contain the remaining documents, as well as other unreleased leaks. But no one connected to WikiLeaks has ever confirmed or denied what that file might contain.

4) Iraqi war documents: After its highly publicized release of Afghan war documents, the organization reportedly is preparing a data dump of documents related to Iraq. Newsweek, which first reported the planned release, said WikiLeaks had teamed with several unidentified press organizations and planned to release the documents within a few weeks. So far, however, no release date has been announced by WikiLeaks, but Wired.com has said the planned release is set for Oct. 18.

5) State Department diplomatic cables: Bradley Manning, the Army private suspected of leaking the treasure trove of Iraqi and Afghan war documents to WikiLeaks, is also said to have revealed that he had provided the organization with some 260,000 sensitive State Department cables. Assange has denied having those cables.