US, Iraq on defensive after WikiLeaks reveals deaths and torture

The WikiLeaks website’s publication of accounts of torture and civilian deaths “did not contain any surprises”, Iraq’s rights ministry said Saturday. WikiLeaks' collaborators have hit back against US claims that the leaks lead to US deaths.

Reuters/Thaier al-Sudani

The whistleblower site has made available nearly 400,000 secret military field reports spanning five years – 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2010 - of the US occupation of Iraq, which began with the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

 
Site found Julian Assange claimed the files reveal a “bloodbath”, saying that they show a “a five times greater killing rate” than in Afghanistan.

It broke the story - the greatest data leak in US history - via its Twitter feed, which is now tracking reactions.

WikiLeaks made the files available to the Guardian newspaper, the New York Times, France’s Le Monde and the German magazine Der Spiegel, as well as broadcaster Al Jazeera, several weeks ago.

Among the revelations are:
 

• The US kept a record of Iraqi deaths, despite repeated denials that it was doing so;
• In the period covered there were 109,032 deaths, 66,081 civilians, 23,984 insurgents and 15,196 Iraqi security forces – deaths are mapped here;
• Continued existence of torture chambers in Iraq;
• US troops were told not to investigate more than 1,300 cases of detainee abuse by the Iraqi authorities;
• Iran armed and trained hit squads to carry out attacks on US-led troops and Iraqi government officials.

 
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the leaks “in the most clear terms”, claiming that they put American lives at risk.

WikiLeaks' collaborators rejected the claim at a press conference in London Saturday.