WikiLeaks Ten Year Anniversary

WikiLeaks Top 10 Greatest Hits about Iraq War

Providing evidence that "the first casualty of war is truth", WikiLeaks hoped through publication to correct some of the attacks on the truth that occurred before the Iraq war, during the Iraq war and which continued long after the war officially concluded. WikiLeaks revealed US complicity in torture, the extent of atrocities committed by Iraqi forces against their own citizens, and provided documentation of the failures of the US military mission.

4 July 2016 – 1200 Hillary Clinton emails pertaining to the Iraq War: Many of the emails gathered from Hillary Clinton’s private servers were news reports or information written or received discussing the war in Iraq while she headed the US State Department.

30 November 2010 – US interference in European investigations seeking accountability for “war on terror” abuses: During a British public inquiry led by Sir John Chilcot into the UK role in the Iraq War, the Ministry of Defence had "put measures in place" to protect U.S. interests according to a UK cable. US diplomats in Spain collaborated with members of the Spanish judiciary and government to ensure that cases targeting U.S. officials and military personnel were not prosecuted. During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, two journalists -- including the Spanish journalist José Couso -- were killed and three others were wounded when a U.S. tank fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. An investigation into the event was subsequently launched in Spain, and an international arrest warrant was issued for three U.S. soldiers involved. Cables showed that the U.S. aggressively fought to have Spanish officials drop the case. Writing about the case in one cable, U.S. Ambassador Eduardo Aguirre emphasizes: "While we are careful to show our respect for the tragic death of Couso and for the independence of the Spanish judicial system, behind the scenes we have fought tooth and nail to make the charges disappear."

22 October 2010 - The Iraq War Logs: showed the true numbers of civilian deaths in Iraq, 15,000 more people had died than previously thought, as well as abuse and torture of prisoners by police and military in full knowledge of coalition forces. These 391,000 reports document the war and occupation of Iraq from 2004-2009 through accounts written by American soldiers showing that the US decided to ignore cases of torture by Iraqi authorities on civilians. These intimate details showed the constant unrelenting every day squalor of war and the density of civilian deaths in Iraq. The U.S. was forced to withdraw from Iraq in 2011, in part due to scandals associated with Blackwater mercenaries escaping accountability for crimes in Iraq, and in particular one cable detailing the summary execution of 10 Iraqi civilians, including four women and five children -- by U.S. soldiers and a subsequent airstrike to cover up the evidence. The story of handcuffed execution and cover-up sparked outrage around the world in the midst of negotiations to extend U.S. troop presence into 2012 and, in response to international coverage, Iraq revived its investigation into the incident. Iraq ultimately refused to grant immunity to U.S. troops in 2012, forcing the U.S. to withdraw in December 2011.

5 April 2010 - The Collateral Murder: classified US military video depicted the slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff who put their lives at risk in order to report on war. Private First Class Manning, an American soldier, is charged and arrested for leaking the information.

2 March 2009 - RAND study on Intelligence Ops & Metrics in Iraq and Afghanistan: This major November 2008 RAND Corporation study on intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan includes interviews with 300 US, UK and Dutch intelligence officers and diplomats. The 318 page document was confidentially prepared for the Pentagon's Joint Forces Command and focuses on intelligence and counterinsurgency operations. The quotes from interviews are from the UK Ambassador and the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency to on the ground intelligence officers.

4 February 2008 – US rules of engagement for Iraq: The document contains rules about mosque attacks, detention of imams, cross border incursions (including Iran and Syria), the use of mines and riot control agents, terrorist targeting, the destruction of Iraqi government property used by insurgents and even kafkaesque rules for attacks on WMD mobile production labs. The document forms a talking point to most US operations in Iraq and the degree of official sanction for them.

11 December 2007 – Camp Bucca Standard Operating Manual: Camp Bucca was the largest United States detainee internment facility (prison) in Iraq, holding 20,000 prisoners as at October 2007 and according to the US Army Corps of Engineers was undergoing a $110 million expansion to 30,000 prisoners. The United States military transferred all prisoners from Abu Grahib to Camp Bucca after leaked pictures of serious prisoner abuse prompted public outrage in April/May 2004. By January 2004, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who had handled most prison operations in Iraq, had been suspended over the Abu Grahib abuses. As what can only be described as reward for failure, Maj. Gen was then appointed commander of all prison operations in Iraq. Miller oversaw the 2004 "clean up" modifications to Camp Bucca — which the Pentagon was to then tout as its model prison.While detailed analysis may reveal substantial flaws, the Camp Bucca SOP seems to be an improvement over the March 1 manual for Camp Delta (Guantanamo) — so much so that Guantanamo detainees may be able to reveal the lack of military necessity in many Guantanamo procedures by comparing them to the Camp Bucca SOP. However some troubling features remain, including detention of juveniles, use of tasers, extensive use of dogs and conspicuously little detail on interrogations and military intelligence operations within the camp.

8 November 2007 – US Military Equipment in Iraq (2007): WikiLeaks releases 2,000 leaked pages from the US military consisting of the names, group structure and theatre equipment registers of all units in Iraq with US army equipment . The release exposes secretive document exploitation centers, detainee operations, elements of the State Department, Air Force, Navy and Marines units, the Iraqi police and coalition forces from Poland, Denmark, Ukraine, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania, Armenia, Kazakhstan and El Salvador. The material represents nearly the entire order of battle for US forces in Iraq and is the first public revelation of many of the military units described. Among other matters it shows that the United States may have violated the United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention.

31 October 2007 – Detainee Operations in a Joint Environment: This is the primary US Department of Defense-wide document describing detainee operations, including the handling of detainees on rendition flights. Detailed diagrams show how detainees (labelled cargo) would be shackled (cuffed) to leg and wrist irons connected to belly irons and the aircraft, blindfolded at all times, with gloves remaining in place at all times and with ear/hearing muffs on at all times. There are 4 documented phases of processing of someone captured or turned over to US authorities, beginning with the initial screening and confiscation of weapons and ending with interrogation. Each phase is given a duration of time in the diagram; for the interrogation phase, the duration is given as 6 to 36 months. Detainees are to be categorized according to their intelligence value. There are four categories, the fourth being "(1)“D” – Other detainees who have no information of intelligence value." However, the document goes on to say that "(1)The fact or determination that a detainee has no information of intelligence value has nothing to do with their detention status and should not be linked to a determination of transfer and release."

25 December 2007 – Classified US report into the Faluja assault: This report was penned by the U.S Army National Ground Intelligence Center and is classified "SECRET/NOFORN" -- meaning the report was not to be shared with Coalition partners. The Fallujah assault was initiated when on March 31 2004 four private military personnel from the U.S firm Blackwater were killed in the town and photos of their burnt bodies received international coverage. The report said the coverage had prompted Rumsfeld, General Abizaid and the then Coalition Provisional Authority Chief Paul Bremer to order an "immediate military response". By the end of April, 600-700 Iraqis and 18 marines had been killed inside the town with 62 marines killed in the broader operational area and 565 wounded in action. During the battle U.S. psychological operations loud speakers "blasted rock music or taunted the insurgents into attacking with insults about their marksmanship." During the battle U.S. psychological operations loud speakers "blasted rock music or taunted the insurgents into attacking with insults about their marksmanship." The report states "Approximately 150 air strikes destroyed 75 buildings, including two mosques" and that the operation "stirred up a hornets nest across the Al Anbar province". U.S. forces retook Fallujah during November 2004 in what was to be the most bloody battle of the occupation.