LOS ANGELES, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Julian Assange, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, said the whistle-blower Web site's leak of Iraq war documents is no real threat to soldiers or civilians in Iraq.
Assange told CNN's Larry King Live Monday that the 400,000 classified U.S. Defense Department documents WikiLeaks published last week showed the deaths of 109,000 Iraqis, including civilians and soldiers, approximately 15,000 people more than previously believed.
"This material doesn't mention any soldiers' names, doesn't mention any names of Iraqi civilians," Assange said of the released documents.
"The only thing at risk here is the reputations of the politicians and bureaucrats that put these soldiers into harm's way -- and who put Iraqis into harm's way," said Assange.
The Pentagon, however, said the leak could put U.S. forces in greater danger. Assange denied the accusation.
The British newspaper The Guardian, along with the New York Times, had early access to the documents, CNN said.
The Guardian said the documents show U.S. authorities did not investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and murder by Iraqi soldiers and police.
Field reports do not include evidence of war crimes, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
Assange also spoke of his interview last week with Atika Shubert of CNN, from which he walked out after she began to question him about Swedish investigations of rape and molestation accusations against him.
"It should be obvious that these things are not in balance and they are not proportionate. It is not right to bring in sensational, and -- in fact false claims -- a relatively trivial matter compared to the deaths of 109,000 people," he said.
