In what is rumored to be "the biggest leak of military intelligence that has ever occurred," the whistleblower site WikiLeaks is preparing to reveal hundreds of thousands of documents pertaining to the Iraq War. Iain Overton, the editor of a journalism nonprofit in London, told Newsweek he's working with WikiLeaks and other media organizations to process, digest, and publish the information. Here's what's buzzing about the upcoming intelligence leak around the Web:

• This Will Be the Biggest Dump Ever, writes Kim Zetter at Wired: "Pfc. Bradley Manning, who has been charged with improperly downloading and leaking classified information, disclosed to a former hacker in May that he had given WikiLeaks a database covering 500,000 events in the Iraq War between 2004 and 2009. Manning said the database included reports, dates, and latitude and longitude of events, as well as casualty figures. A leak of this sort would vastly dwarf the cache of about 75,000 documents that WikiLeaks published in July from the Afghanistan War. That cache involved field reports from analysts who compiled information from informants and others on incidents and intelligence."

• This Will Probably Contain Info on Detainee Treatment, writes Mark Hosenball at Newsweek: "The Iraq material portrays U.S. forces being involved in a 'bloodbath,' but some of the most disturbing material relates to the abusive treatment of detainees, not by Americans but by Iraqi security forces."

• They'll Try to Prevent Casualties, writes Gautham Nagesh at The Hill: "Overton said his organization is taking seriously U.S. complaints that the Afghanistan leaks have put lives in jeopardy, which is why they are reviewing all reports first for sensitive information rather than posting the raw material. He said WikiLeaks's media partners have agreed to make financial contributions to WikiLeaks to 'help meet productions costs.'"

• A Number of Media Sources Will Get Exclusives, writes Tim Edwards at The First Post:

Iain Overton, editor of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which is working with WikiLeaks to identify specific stories among the documents, told Newsweek that each of the organisations involved this time will come up with its own angle on the material, because "everyone wants their exclusive". He adds that the tranche of documents will be around three times the size of the Afghanistan leak.

• Bringing in the MSM Is a Smart Strategy, writes Michael Collins at The Agonist: "It guarantees maximum publicity. It takes a great deal of heat of Wikileaks as the prime malefactor in the eyes of the national security state. It also impresses on the leaks the imprimatur of the mass media, lending it immediate gravitas."

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jhudson at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
John Hudson