Wikileaks : The Pentagon Documents

The Wikileaks report revealed Pentagon secret documents about the Iraqi War (2003-2009), reflecting on the number of Iraqi civilian causalities committed by American troops, the Blackwater security forces, and Prime Minister al-Maliki’s special forces. Furthermore, the Wikileaks documents reflect on the U.S. ignoring military torture of Iraqi civilians in prison camps.

The Wikileaks secret document was given to a few leading newspapers in the U.S., Europe and al-jazeera.net.

The U.N. Secretary General called on President Barack Obama to investigate human rights abuses during the Iraqi war. Also, other human rights organizations in Iraq and other countries are calling for an international investigation to see if war crimes were committed in Iraq.

The Wikileaks revealed military documents reflecting that between 2003 and 2009, more than 285,000 Iraqi civilians were killed during the war. According to the document, American air bombardment played a significant role in the civilian casualties.

When the previous Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld was asked by the press about the number of Iraqi causalities, his response was “We do not keep record of the number of deaths of Iraqis”. As usual, President George W. Bush and some of his high-ranking administrators were lying to the American public about the Iraqi war. The Wikileaks documents of the civilian causalities in Iraq is very low in comparison to other international studies, which puts the number of Iraqi deaths between 2003 and 2007 at exceeding 1.2 million people.

The Wikileaks secret Pentagon documents revealed that the Blackwater security forces participated in the killing of Iraqi civilians, especially at inspection posts. It was reported that more than 1400 incidences of shootings by the Blackwater security forces took place. In 2007 the Iraqi government ordered the expulsion of Blackwater from Iraq, but the American military authority ignored the order and renewed their contracts. Not a single member of Blackwater security forces was held responsible for the many killings they have committed.

The Wikileaks secret military documents also revealed that the American military authority has ignored the reported human torture of Iraqi detainees in prisons. The documents revealed that more than 180,000 Iraqi people were kept in prisons and most of them were Sunni Muslims. All sorts of torture were used on a daily basis against many of these prisoners that lead to the deaths of some of them and no questions were asked. Several years ago, the torture of prisoners by American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison was revealed in pictures by American soldiers. That incident was condemned by many human rights organizations.

The Wikileaks secret document also revealed that the Iraqi Prime Minister N. al-Maliki ordered his secret special forces to kill high-ranking Sunni officials in the army and police force. The American authorities were aware of al-Maliki’s secret killings but they overlooked such violations.

Furthermore, the secret documents also revealed Iranian secret aggression in Iraq by smuggling weapons into Iraqi Shiaa groups. Also, Iranian agents committed assassinations against some of those who were against Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs in order to support Shiaa groups.

The invasion of Iraq by President Bush should be investigated to set the record straight. The ex-president should be held responsible for the war crimes committed in Iraq. He started an unnecessary war that lead to the killing of many innocent people on both sides. If the Iraqi civilian causalities are viewed as collateral damage, what about the more than 4,440 American soldiers who have died in vain? Vincent Burgliosi, in his book, “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder”, says that Bush should be prosecuted for the killing of American soldiers who have died in the unjust Iraqi war, as well as for the war crimes committed against Iraqi civilians.