9.53am: A massive cache of secret US military files passed to the Guardian via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has revealed the devastating scale of the human rights abuses committed in the wake of the invasion of Iraq.
WikiLeaks has passed almost 400,000 secret US army field reports to the Guardian and a range of other media outlets. The files are believed to have come from the same dissident US army intelligence analyst who earlier this year is alleged to have leaked 90,000 logs chronicling civilian killings and human rights abuses in the Afghan war.
Read the Guardian's special report on the Iraq war logs here.
The main revelations are:
• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to go unpunished.
• A US helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.
• More than 15,000 civilians died in previously unknown incidents. US and UK officials have insisted that no official record of civilian casualties exists but the logs record 66,081 non-combatant deaths out of a total of 109,000 fatalities.
The Pentagon has condemned the new leaks, once again calling on WikiLeaks to delete the files. Spokesman Marine Corps Colonel Dave Lapan said: "We deplore WikiLeaks for inducing individuals to break the law, leak classified documents and then cavalierly share that secret information with the world, including our enemies.
"We know terrorist organisations have been mining the leaked Afghan documents for information to use against us, and this Iraq leak is more than four times as large.
"The only responsible course of action for WikiLeaks at this point is to return the stolen material and expunge it from their websites as soon as possible."
US secretary of state Hilary Clinton' has also condemned the leak in a TV address.
But the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, said there was now a duty on the US to investigate whether its officials were involved in or complicit in torture.
Speaking on the BBC's Today programme, Novak, who has spent years investigating allegations of US participation in extraordinary rendition and the abuse of detainees held by coalition forces, said the Obama administation came to power promising change.
"President Obama came to power with a moral agenda, saying "we don't want to be seen to be a nation responsible for major human rights violations"," Novak said. A failure to investigate credible claims of US forces' complicity in torture, Novak suggested, would be a failure of the Obama government to recognise the US's obligations under international law.
WikiLeaks is holding a press conference about the Iraq war logs this morning in conjuntion with the Iraq Body Count group, which is trying to compile a full list of civilian deaths since the 2003 invasion. Follow us here at the live blog for updates throughout the day.
10.13am: The New York Times' special report on the Iraq war logs can be found here. It also details the previously unreported civilian deaths and the abuse of detainees, but it gives greater prominence than the Guardian to Iran's role in the ongoing conflict, particularly how the Islamic republic has aided Iraqi Shia militias.
10.18am: Der Spiegel's special report on the Iraq war logs can be found here.
The Iraq war logs have been passed on to a wider range of media organisations than the Afghan war logs. Among the other news organisations involved are the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Channel 4 News, Swedish SVT, BBC News, Al Jazeera English and Le Monde.
10.48am: Channel 4's Dispatches on Monday is devoted to the Iraq war logs. Among its findings are more than 300 reports alleging abuse by US forces on Iraqi prisoners after April 2004; evidence of more than 1,300 individual cases of the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners by Iraqis in police stations and army bases; and how the US authorities were aware of horrific violence by Iraqi militias, including 32,500 murders - of which 160 victims were children.
In the meantime, the Guardian has a special video report on the war logs which details how the US military ordered its forces to turn a blind eye to the torture and abuse of detainees by the Iraqi forces and the police.
10.54am: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been speaking at a news conference in London about the release of the Iraq war logs.
"This disclosure is about the truth. We hope to correct some of that attack on the truth that occurred before the war, during the war, and which has continued on since the war officially concluded. While I am not sure we have achieved the maximum possible [political impact] I think we are getting pretty close."
Assange highlighted how the reports documented 109,000 deaths - including 66,000 civilians, of which 15,000 were previously undocumented.
"That tremendous scale should not make us blind to the small human scale in this material. It is the deaths of one and two people per event that killed the overwhelming number of people in Iraq."
10.58am: Solicitor Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers told the press conference that some of the deaths documented in the reports could have involved British forces and would now be the subject of legal action through the UK courts.
"Some of these deaths will be in circumstances where the UK have a very clear legal responsibility," he said.
"This may be because the Iraqis died while under the effective control of UK forces - under arrest, in vehicles, helicopters or detention facilities."
11.42am: The main Iraqi political group opposed to prime minister Nouri al-Maliki says the details of torture by Iraqi soldiers and police revealed in the Iraq war logs show what can happen when too much power is given to a single leader.
"Putting all the security powers in the hands of one person who is the general commander of the armed forces have led to these abuses and torture practices in Iraqi prisons," said Maysoun al-Damlouji, a spokeswoman for the Iraqiya bloc.
The comments are a veiled slap at al-Maliki, who is fighting to hold onto his job.
Most of the victims of abuse at the hands of Iraqi security were believed to be Sunnis, many of whom supported Iraqiya in the election in March against al-Maliki's Shia-dominated bloc.
A government spokesman declined to comment, saying he had not seen the documents.
11.48am: Kristinn Hrafnsson of WikiLeaks said it would publish 15,000 more documents about the war in Afghanistan, in addition to those released in July.
She said the files, which had been held back because of their sensitive content, were fully vetted for release. They had been edited to conceal people's names and "contain no information that could be harmful to individuals".
11.52am: Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers told the press conference that there should be a public inquiry into allegations that British troops were responsible for civilian deaths during the Iraq war.
He cited one case in which he claimed a British rifleman had shot dead an eight-year-old girl who was playing in the street in Basra.
"For some reason the tank stopped at the end of the street, she's there in her yellow dress, a rifleman pops up and blows her away."
He said tank units were in the habit of stopping while on patrol so soldiers could hand out sweets to youngsters as part of the battle for "hearts and minds".
Shiner added that it would be wrong to assume that the US military files "had nothing to do with the UK".
He said he was acting for many Iraqi civilians who were killed or tortured by UK forces.
"Some have been killed by indiscriminate attacks on civilians or the unjustified use of lethal force. Others have been killed in custody by UK forces and no-one knows how many Iraqis lost their lives while held in British detention facilities.
"If unjustified or unlawful force has been used, prosecutions for those responsible must follow, so we are bringing forward a new case seeking accountability for all unlawful deaths and we argue that there must be a judicial inquiry to fully investigate UK responsibility for civilian deaths in Iraq."
1.06pm: Shiner told the press conference there was a huge and growing body of evidence about the killing, ill treatment and torture of Iraqis whilst in UK custody.
He said: "There appear to be many cases other than that of Baha Mousa, where Iraqis died in UK custody and were then certified as dying from natural causes.
"None of these deaths have been investigated, many of these Iraqis were hooded and abused and my law firm does not accept the Ministry of Defence's explanation that each and every one of these deaths has a innocent explanation.
"If you look at what the British did in Iraq, it's savagery, these Iraqi men simply did not exist, they had been completely dehumanised."
1.08pm: John Sloboda, of Iraq Body Count, told the press conference that the war logs revealed an unprecedented level of detail about the many civilian casualties of the conflict, including many names.
He said: "The [15,000] new deaths [detailed in the new logs] are concentrated in small incidents, killing one or two people at a time, scattered all over Iraq, and occurring almost every day for the whole period.
"These are the small but relentless tragedies of this war that these logs reveal in unprecedented detail."
1.23pm: We're wrapping up our coverage of the Wikileaks' press conference now. We'll continue to bring you updates on the news site - with all coverage collated in our special report.
Among the highlights of our analysis of the files is an interactive detailing - log by log, minute by minute - the hundreds of violent incidents on 17 October 2006. It was a typical day in one of the bloodiest years of the Iraq conflict, with 136 Iraqis and 10 Americans killed.
The Observer will have further analysis of the war logs tomorrow.
Comments in chronological order (Total 61 comments)
23 October 2010 10:23AM
The Pentagon has condemned the new leaks, once again calling on WikiLeaks to delete the files
Yes, those leaks really are reprehensible
Making it even more difficult for the Pentagon to defend the indefensible.......
23 October 2010 10:29AM
This-leak is at the same time when the United States is being pressured to start another war with Iran.
23 October 2010 10:31AM
I am utterly ashamed. We are no better than the terrorists over whom we claim moral superiority. This will haunt us for generations.
23 October 2010 10:40AM
The American officials are loving this aren't they?
What with this and China controlling the economy it seems the Yanks are coming unstuck.
There are some things you can't change with brute force and ignorance.
Well done Wikileaks.
Hold them to account.
23 October 2010 10:55AM
Iraqis abuse Iraqis in Iraq.......and it's all America's fault again. For God's sake!
23 October 2010 11:06AM
Keep 'em coming WikiLeaks. America needs to answer for this and the world needs to know what this evil country constantly does in the name of 'freedom'.
23 October 2010 11:07AM
It is not acceptable the torture (if true) by allied forces but neither is any leak of information that may harm by identifying civilians in Iraq who have worked against the terrorist forces in that country. Whether some people like it or not WikiLeaks are an act of treason in America and an act of terrorism against their allies. It was similar acts of Media stupidity that nearly cost me my life in the middle east in the 70's.
23 October 2010 11:22AM
... The Norwegians are running a LIVE recording of the press conference on the website of the "Aftonbladet" newspaper... and that paper is a tatty tabloid, so why can't the Guardian do the same (run the recording I mean not become a tatty-tabloid).
23 October 2010 11:24AM
... my partner has just informed me that Aftonbladet is Swedish, not Norwegian (these Scandinavians, honestly).
23 October 2010 11:25AM
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23 October 2010 11:28AM
Interesting that The UN rapporteur on torture is saying the US government should 'investigate' these atrocities carried out by its troops (and the 'blind eye' turning).
This should be an 'international' criminal trial, not an internal American one. British and American forces are deeply implicated in the mass murder of thousands of civilians and they should be forced to stand trial at the highest international level.
WikiLeaks deserves our full respect and support for revelaing this horrific carnage, which would otherwise have never seen the light of day.
Invasions of foreign countries to aquire their wealth carry with them the very worst element of thuggery and brutality. Now all can see for themslves.
23 October 2010 11:42AM
@ReverendWallace
Bearing in mind the old saying that the first casualty of war is the truth I think we have every right to know what alleged atrocities are being carried out in our name - particularly as we are under threat of civilian attacks on the UK mainland. I think that trumps your charge of treason - which is usually the cry when you've been caught out.
23 October 2010 11:52AM
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23 October 2010 11:55AM
Rice123
Are you Condoleezza Rice maybe? Your cynicism, and that of others here, is disgusting. The USA - and the world to a lesser degree - commemorates the 2,000 people who died in the 9/11 attacks...
but the 66,000 people (AT LEAST 66,000, and these are only the ones recorded by the USA military) are told to f*** off by the Pentagon and most of the world. There were no weapons of mass destruction, there were no links to the terrorist attacks. The UK's involvement in this - and Tony Blair - is disgusting.
More people killed by our leaders than by terrorists - more than ten times over.
23 October 2010 12:03PM
@ReverendWallace
Do you remember your commandments ?
Does "Thou shalt not kill" stir a memory in you perchance ?
23 October 2010 12:19PM
I would just like to add I agree totally with virtually all the comments poated here and thank you to wikileaks for exposing this barbarity and having the courage to do so.
23 October 2010 12:20PM
Secrecy is how fools and evil men stay in power.
Wikileaks is a necessary entity since the government has no interest in regulating itself. It is now up to us to pour over as much classified documentation as we can to discern the truth of things and prevent atrocities from occurring in the future.
The foreign policy of the corporate oligarchy... I mean the US... has shown that the US is the least moral country of the civilized world. Profit before people, and it is getting worse.
If we applied the same strategy the US used to protect us from terrorism to raising our children, then this would be a sad world indeed. Let us use this information to remove the boot from our throats.
Unless, of course, you no longer want personal liberty... prefer to have someone look at your naked body before entering any "secure" area and wish to be pulled over and searched at the whim of maladjusted law enforcement personnel.
23 October 2010 12:21PM
Oh yeah... where the !@#$ is Osama Bin Laden?
23 October 2010 12:24PM
Good PUNISH THESE WAR CRIMINALS for KILLING WOMEN AND CHILDREN
23 October 2010 12:27PM
Why is it coming as a surprise to many?
There is an atrocity, wherever an American is involved.
Iraq, happened to be the latest ground, for such distateful events, but not the last.
It seems, the Americans are good at making enemies the planet over.
So, whats the solution?
They need a ministry of probaganda. The Nazis put that to good use, and if they were not defeated, nothing would have come out in the open.
Poor Iraq, at least now you got DEMOCRACY that stinks of American curry.
23 October 2010 12:28PM
Takes the shine off 'our boys' doesn't it ? killing innocent civilians in Iraq. Kind of makes you understand why they fought back.
23 October 2010 12:35PM
Once again, they just reveal what everyone already believed they weren't telling us. But I love the US goverment response...
Look, these facts are incovenient and ugly. They go against our Propaganda for which we've worked so hard to spread!.
How dare you present fact that dismiss the lies we've been spreading around?
Don't you see that could hurt us?
It's irresponsible for you to expose the truth about the war cause its not in our favour!
And my god man! Don't you see the 'terrorists' could use the truth and the facts against us?
You should know by now, in the US Ugly facts&evidence=Propaganda=Bad publicity=Threat to national security.
How about we start acting responsibly by punishing the crimes committed and and preventing these crap from happening again. Then maybe the world will take a different viewon these wars...
Now hands up those who believe the US pentagon will twist the whole thing around and use it as an additional case of why attacking 'bad Iran' is an excellent idea!
23 October 2010 1:02PM
All those who have tried to hide human rights abuses in Iraq should be charged with with being accessories after the fact, which used to be called misprision of a felony. Hiding or trying to hide a felony offense is itself a felony offense, under both U.S. civil law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
All those involved in the cover-up should be charged. Legally, they are all as guilty as the murderers, rapists, torturers in the field. They all belong in prison, for life.
Thank you, Wikileaks. And thank you, Bradley Manning. You are a hero, amid criminals and thugs.
23 October 2010 1:47PM
International Court of Justice will not procecute the actual People who ordered this ill-advised mission. Ill advised mission leaders are still in power.
LOOK AT HOW WE TRAIN OUR YOUNG ONES TO FIGHT.
23 October 2010 2:31PM
The face that this in no way comes as a surprise doesn't make it any less sickening. I remember my grandad used to say I should be proud and thankful to be British when I used to ask him about his days in WW2. Today I'm repulsed.
23 October 2010 2:48PM
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23 October 2010 3:00PM
Trials and investigations alone are not good enough tools to protect people in the UK from having this type of trick played on them again.
Every time some supposed liberal like Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband, Christopher Hitchens etc speaks out against the Iraq war and doesn't automatically include proposals that are constitutionally practical, permanent and universally declared - it's exactly the same thing as saying 'we leave open the option for this to happen again'.
We need our politicians to start promising, in a binding contract, to uphold international laws, before they're allowed into power. If we don't demand this, then we're as complicit as they are. This doesn't require a revolution, it requires a signature on a bit of paper and a functioning legal system.
23 October 2010 3:03PM
I served for 25 years in the British army, killing people is what we did best.
In Aden a Yemeni was picked up and driven around Aden in the back of a landrover the squaddies slapped him on the back and joked with the poor sod, he was found dead just after his release.
There are more ways than one to skin a cat.
Time to disband the British military until they learn to respect other peoples lives and property.
As for the US forces they're just a bunch of drugged thugs.
23 October 2010 3:07PM
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23 October 2010 3:34PM
81 kid, that was great, absolutely great
wE HONOUR 3, 000 dea and sweep possibly 1million under the carpet
Let's not forget - no-one has the right to take American/Israeli life... or else
23 October 2010 3:45PM
All who are in support of the leaks should have all personal information posted on the internet including your real name and address for this site, all bank account numbers and passwords, all family names and addresses, everything. Then tell the police, your government, your military, your first responders, that you no longer need their services and unlock your home doors & windows. No curtains. Post on the internet all your tax records and be sure to ask for an audit. In fact, get a series of cameras in every location you live and work and put them on the internet 24/7. Fair? You betcha.
23 October 2010 3:51PM
On BBC News today Julian Assange made reference to Philip Knightley fine book 'The Casualty of War', and quotes Knightley as saying that "In war truth is the first casualty". In fact Knightley was quoting the United State Senator Hiram Johnson who said this during the Great War.
This does not distract from the service Wiki-Leaks does providing it also documents the human rights abuse of Al Qaeda and its allies.
23 October 2010 4:02PM
I'm still at a loss as to why WikiLeaks or any media outfit should be protecting the US or British military. That's the job of the military, and they've never been too cautious in doing it. The media should have no allegiance to anything but telling the truth or something approximating to it: that's something called "impartiality". If some country has committed armed forces to a war they shouldn't be fighting, that's no reason for silence. Just as it's for government to make a decent society rather than appealing to business for "patriotism" that business has no place dabbling in, it's likewise for government to keep soldiers out of harm's way when there's no valid reason for conflict, rather than relying on others to hush up its own crimes for the sake of some flag or other.
23 October 2010 4:21PM
Rice123
23 October 2010 11:25AM
Yawn for the story .......
live blog = News piracy
I doubt you'd find being tortured so dreadfully boring. Bet you felt smug after posting your online confession of how stupid you are.
23 October 2010 4:39PM
huldah1776 at 3:45PM
Wikileaks 1 Uncle Sam 0.
Hard luck.
23 October 2010 4:53PM
huldah - your post makes no sense whatsoever. Can you write down what you are trying to say in clear English please?
23 October 2010 4:53PM
Huldah1776 -
You'll need to explain your 'logic'? How does that work? it makes no sense to me.
I support the leaks, so why should i put all my personal banking info on the web? Please explain!
23 October 2010 5:02PM
Are there any documents outlining the criteria used by Wikileaks to decide whether something is okay to leak or not? I'd expect there to be, in the interests of openness.
23 October 2010 5:07PM
Benulek - I know that they go through the documents to ensure that individual names etc are not published. That's as much as i know. Sections of the documents are blanked out.
23 October 2010 5:09PM
Still, it would be good to know who is doing ths and what criteria they are using for deciding how much information is too much information. They have a lot of power in their hands, and it's pretty unaccountable.
23 October 2010 5:31PM
Benulek - how it works, have you seen this?
http://wikileaks.org/media/about.html
23 October 2010 5:48PM
Well this is what happens when people go to war, shocked me the first time, I experienced a war, Opened my eyes, I left the forces in 95, I am not canon fodder anymore and yes humans, can and do the most despicable things in such times.
Which begs the question of how much of this blood is on our hands as a modern human society; think that going to war is something in a far off land, something you read on the news... You would hope that mankind would wake up to this kind of thing, and protest loudly, whenever our political elite decide to try and take us to war. Oh yes and having Blair go on about god told him to do it, makes my blood boil.
23 October 2010 6:26PM
Wikileaks should be honored and Bradley Manning should be released NOW!
We need these human beings in order to move on!
23 October 2010 6:33PM
Hilary Clinton and the CCo condemns Wikileaks.
THEY CAN NOT HIDE IT ANYMORE!
23 October 2010 6:34PM
The next Nobel prize for "Bradley Manning" and the Ignoble prize for "Hilary Clinton"?
23 October 2010 7:11PM
There's a good chance this is the last of any significant leaks from this organization. The New York Times article today, WikiLeaks Founder on the Run, Chased by Turmoil , though probably something of a smear job, does suggest Assange has about run out of gas, that the Wikileaks organization is coming unraveled.
There has to be a lot of pressure on these people. It would quite surprising if Assange were not in prison within a year. And he probably knows it.
At the end of the day, however, he and they have done something quite valuable in proving that freedom of information is not entirely dead... yet.
23 October 2010 7:20PM
Our leaders themselves are terrorists. Why are we so unwilling to admit this? They lead us, rather blind us, with claims of our democratic status when we are all aware that we are far from democratic! When was the last time we were able to hold our leaders to account? And they blind us with consumerist wealth. Even now, while the US and UK are in economic turmoil, the idea that we will not be hit and that we will return to our previous status allows us to say that the austerity measures hitting the most vulnerable in society are justified - yeah ... as long as it doesn't land on our doorstep!
What I have not seen in the comments above is people actually sharing the accountability for the actions of the 'democratic west'! We are also to blame. We do not hold our own governments accountable. There were protests, massive protests against the Iraq war, but most sat quiet, silently not knowing what to do, or not questioning their government - ie. swallowing whatever lies were perpetuated. If you are truly democratic, then it is your responsibility to learn the truth. It is your responsibility to be critical. If you are happy striving for wealth that will never be realised because society does not share wealth very often at all, then you are simply stupid.
We should all be holding our own heads in shame.
23 October 2010 7:30PM
And ... lastly, if you truly believe that our 'democracy' and our 'consumerism' are indeed the model by which all should live, then leave your homes, travel to places where you are forced to speak to natives, learn about other cultures from those who live in them. Nowhere is perfect, but there are other ways that exist. The fact that they are strange to us does not make them wrong.
23 October 2010 8:50PM
Spokesman Marine Corps Colonel Dave Lapan said: "We deplore WikiLeaks for inducing individuals to break the law, leak classified documents and then cavalierly share that secret information with the world, including our enemies.
To quote Mandy Rice-Davies, "Well,he would, wouldn't he".
23 October 2010 9:45PM
"Reverend Wallace" said above that "Whether some people like it or not WikiLeaks are an act of treason in America". Don't be silly, "Reverend". Treason is something you commit against your own country; and WikiLeaks is not run from America. Arguably the people who are committing treason are American officials and soldiers who are performing criminal actions and dragging down the reputation of their country.