The Pentagon on Monday said it is urging news media not to publish the rumored trove of Iraq war files to be released on the whistle-blower website Wikileaks, saying media outlets should not facilitate the leak.

Department spokesman David Lapan said "news organizations should be cautioned not to facilitate the leaking of classified documents with this disreputable organization known as WikiLeaks."

He said media which helps the website publish classified records could "provide a veneer of legitimacy to WikiLeaks," and "the concern is that WikiLeaks as an organization should not be made more credible by having credible news organizations facilitate what they're doing."

He said the military is urging WikiLeaks to "return the stolen documents to the United States government."

Wikileaks, which created a splash by publishing tens of thousands classified Afghanistan war document, is rumored to be preparing for a possible release of thousands of Iraq war documents.