WikiLeaks Documents Detail Rape, Abuse, Murder

CBS/AP

Updated at 6:58 p.m. ET

The New York Times, The Guardian newspaper of London, German magazine Der Spiegel and French newspaper Le Monde reported Friday that secret U.S. military documents about the war in Iraq detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.

These are the same documents - part of the largest publication of secret material in history - that Pentagon officials have been urging the website WikiLeaks and the media not to publish.

They first appeared on the Arab network Al Jazeera, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin.

Among the details from the approximately 400,000, collected from field reports sent in by American units in the field between 2004 and 2009, and leaked to the news outlets are that:

- U.S. authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished.

- Americans often turned a blind eye to Iraqis being tortured and abused by other Iraqis in secret prisons.

- Iran's military - to a further extent than previously known - intervened aggressively in support of Shiite combatants, offering weapons, training and sanctuary.

- A U.S. helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.

- According to one tabulation, there have been 100,000 civilian causalities - greater than the numbers previously made public, many of them killed by American troops but most of them were killed by other Iraqis.

Pentagon: Iraqi Collaborators Now in Danger?

The Pentagon has called on WikiLeaks to return all the secret material it has obtained, but the organization has refused. Its officials say there is value in releasing the raw information. But the Pentagon calls the wholesale release of the secret documents "irresponsible."

NYT: WikiLeaks Reveal Iran's Aid for Iraqi Militias

The documents were made available to the four news organizations on the condition that they be embargoed until now. According to Der Spiegel, the documents included in the WikiLeaks database aren't of the highest level of classification - at most, they are "secret," but not "top secret." Many of the most sensational events in the Iraq war don't make an appearance, including the torture scandal at Abu Ghraib.

WikiLeaks has never revealed where it obtained the information, although an American Army intelligence analyst, Pfc. Bradley Manning, has been arrested and accused of being a source of classified material.

In a statement emailed to reporters Friday, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell called the documents "snapshots of events" that "do not tell the whole story."

Morell said U.S. "enemies will mine this information looking for insights into how we operate, cultivate sources and react in combat situations..." and that the publication of the material "could very well get our troops and those they are fighting with killed."

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former commander in Afghanistan, called the release "sad" Friday evening at a summit sponsored by the news site the Daily Beast.

"The decision to leak classified information is something that is illegal, and individuals are making judgments about threats and information they are not qualified to make," McChrystal said. "There is a level of responsibility toward our people that needs to be balanced with a right or need to know."

WikiLeaks published more than 70,000 similar documents from the Afghanistan War in March, and Pentagon officials issued similar dire warnings. They acknowledge they cannot point to any incident in which people died or operations were compromised by that release, but they say such consequences could still happen.

In preparation for the latest release, a team of more than a hundred analysts from across the U.S. military, led by the Defense Intelligence Agency, has been combing through the Iraq documents.

Called the Information Review Task Force, its analysts have pored over the documents they predicted would be released, and used word searches to try to pull out names and other issues that would be particularly sensitive, officials have said.

The following are two examples of redacted documents published by the New York Times:

Summary: The archive disclosed by WikiLeaks documents hundreds of cases in which Iraqi police officers or soldiers were involved in prisoner abuse. In this case, American soldiers found 173 Iraqis detained by the police, many bearing bruises, sores and burns from cigarettes.

DETAINEE ABUSE RPTD BY 2 BCT IN BAGHDAD (ZONE 10): 0 CF INJ/DAMAGE AT 1600C, 2BCT REPORTS, 173 MOI DETAINES BEING HELD AT AN MOI INTERMNMENT FACILITY NEXT OT THE KARADA DAC HALL. MANY OF THEM BEAR MARKS OF ABUSE TO INCLUDE CIGARETTE BURNS, BRUISING CONSISTENT WITH BEATINGS AND OPEN SORES. MANY OF THE DETAINEES ARE COUGHING AND ARE BEING DESCRIBED AS WALKING WOUNDED. APPROX 95 X DETAINEES WERE BEING HELD IN 1 X ROOM AND WERE SITTING CROSS-LEGGED WITH BLIND FOLDS, ALL FACING THE SAME DIRECTION. ACCORDING TO ONE OF THE DETAINEES QUESTIONED ON SITE, 12 X DETAINEES HAVE DIED OF DISEASE IN RECENT WEEKS.

MARNE 66 RESPONDED AND IS ON SITE. D/4-64 AR IS RESPONDING TO ASSIST WITH SECURITY AND TO FACILITATE THE RELEASE AND TREATMENT OF DETAINEES FROM THE FACILITY. A STAFF JUDGE ADVOCATE AND IRAQI JUDGE ARE ALSO RESPONDING. 4-64 AR IS BRINGING MEDICAL ASSETS, HA MEALS AND WATER. THE SJA AND IRAQI JUDGE WILL REVIEW DETAINEE FILES TO DECIPHER WHICH DETAINEES WILL REMAIN IN CUSTODY. THE 4-64 AR SURGEON WILL BE ASSESSING THE MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE DETAINEES AND WILL CASEVAC ACCORDINGLY. 0 CF INJ/DAMAGE

Summary: If the war was dangerous for Americans, it was far worse for the Iraqis who worked for them. One Iraqi interpreter was killed by an American sniper from his own unit, who mistook him for a militant when the Iraqi became separated from his platoon.

BLUE ON WHITE BY 1ST RECON S OF NASSER WA AL SALEM: 1 CIV KILLED, 0 CF INJ/DAMA AT 200100C FEB 06, A 1ST RECON SNIPER TEAM WHILE CONDUCTING CLANDESTINE SNIPER OPERATIONS IVO HAJI RD IN THE ZAIDON ENGAGED (1) MAM WITH (4) 5.56MM ROUNDS IVO (38S MB 09971 79804) 4KM S OF NASSER WA AL SALEM. THE MAM WAS PID W/ AK-47 CREEPING UP BEHIND THEIR SNIPER POSITION AND WAS SHOT IN THE CHEST W/ (2) 5.56MM ROUNDS AT 15M. QRF WAS LAUNCHED TO EXTRACT THE SNIPER TEAM. THE MAM WAS SEARCHED BY TEAM AND RECOVERED (1) AK-47, (2) MAGAZINES OF 7.62MM, DOUBLE TAPED, (1) LARGE KNIFE, (1) ID CARD WITH "----- -----" WRITTEN ON CARD. MAM WAS ALSO NOTED TO BE WEARING A TRACKSUIT AND SEVERAL WARMING LAYERS TO INCLUDE (2) PAIRS OF SOCKS. THE BODY WAS LEFT BEHIND AT (38S MB 09971 79804) UPON EXTRACT OF THE SST. PIONEER OBSERVING ON SITE W/ NSTR.

UPDATE: UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION THE KIA TURNED OUT TO BE THE PLATOON'S INTERPRETER THAT WAS SEPARATED FROM UNIT. THE BODY WAS RECOVERED AND IS CURRENTLY LOCATED AT FALLUJAH SURGICAL. THIS ACTION IS NOW CONSIDERED A BLUE ON GREEN. IT RESULTED IN (1) IZ KIA (IRAQI INTERPRETER EMPLOYED BY TITAN.

[WanaCare]

According to one tabulation, there have been 100,000 civilian causalities - greater than the numbers previously made public, many of them killed by American troops but most of them were killed by other Iraqis.

Watched a horror film late the other night & while people were living violently like rats underground and turning into monsters from the radiation contamination another group of people lived in "nice" single rooms hooked up to "nice" dream machines so they didn't have to face the reality of death and destruction; Is this what the U.S. is doing with their entertainment movies, while 100,000 families have their members killed?

The man in my profile picture went to Afghanistan, like the author Greg Mortenson who wrote 3 cups of Tea & built schools in an absolutely impoverished land and then sold as a "bad" guy. Shaker Aamer's family are British citizens & he has never been charged, was cleared in 2007 with the all the other British residence who have since returned to their loved ones in the U.K.. Mr. Aamer & the other 14 victims have received $Millions for compensation for their torture from the U.K., but the U.S. will not allow Mr. Shaker Aamer to be turned over to Foreign Secretary Hague as he is being used as propaganda for the necessity to have the U.S. continue to secure oil transportation routes as stated by Lit. Col.Karen Kwiatkowski.

My father fought in WWII, but would have never imagined such terrorism & violent horror against innocent untried men and their families that is taking place under the U.S. Pres., military and CIA today.

[Electronvoltaire]

As I see it, the truth of what happened in Iraq is gonna get out somehow. With the internet, and cell phones, and hidden cameras, you just can't cover up things the way you could back in World War II. Clinton thought he could cover up his affair with Monica Lewinsky and look how that turned out. So I thihk the rightwingers should stop belly-aching about treason this and treason that, and accept it that if mistakes were made in Iraq, it's all gonna get found out, if not by Wikileaks then by somebody else with even less regard for safety of the troops. But safeguarding the United States cannot be equated with safeguarding the reputations of Cheney, Bush, and Rumsfeld.

[documemts]

I want to be the first to nominate "Wiki-Leaks" for a congressional award. "To Save The Republic from its enemies both foreign and especially domestic this award is given in grateful recognition and humble gratitude"

Thank You,

Wiki Leaks

May You Leak On...

[WanaCare]

Yes, Thank you to the service of those who have suffered at the hands of Murdoch & Prs. Nixon, Bush & Obama's corruption, like the last soldiers left in Vietnam & the journalists who revealed the Pres. corruption, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, Lit. Col. Kwaitsky, the young man who went through hell to tell about the other soldiers hunting innocent Afghanistan people to kill like a sport, and others who have probably not yet made it into the news.

[jayrh]

This is an act of war by WikiLeaks... We should bring these people to the U.S. for trial and anyone associated with them... Obama looks weak to the world, here's his chance to show otherwise... Our enemies are becoming bolder by the day... His policies of appeasement will ensure war for our future, not peace... ===================================================================================== I'm always amazed by liberals... Rules of engagement, warfare, etc... Let's kill people, but lets do it nicely???

[slappy-mcfudpuck]

I am always amazed by unAmerican types who don't think we should uphold our own rules of engagement.

[slappy-mcfudpuck]

"An act of war"?? Do you think Wikileaks is a country?

[mahdeealoo]

More fuel for terrorists. Whoever owns WikiLeaks is in for trouble. But you put a gun in the hands of raging hormones and teach killing and this is what you get. War IS hell and totally unnecessary.

[documemts]

Well good. Vietnam didn't wind down until the Army assassination squads were well identified and known.

[Huldah5]

Everyone in support of these leaks should have to post all private security codes online including those to bank accounts, credit cards, home security systems and be audited by the IRS which will then be posted online. Also, children, parents, and friends info is to be posted. All of it. Fair?

oh, tell the police you no longer require their services and do not lock any doors or windows. Tell the National Guard you do not need them. Tell the Coast Guard, and the FBI and the CIA. Fair? You betcha.

Mr Wikileaks should go without any protection, too. Unlock the office, divulge his secret sources. Hey, what comes around goes around. Hypocrites all.

[documemts]

I'm waiting. You first.

[JamesB621]

So you think that all should be fair in love and war? I'm with documents, you first. We've all seen what happens when ANY government, especially our own is allowed to operate as they please with no accountability or oversight of any kind by anyone. Seems that that old adage "what goes around comes around" can come back to bite you in the ass.

[jackpenn]

"WAR IS HELL" These things are going to happen where Satan is in charge, and war has always been Hell on Earth, so what do people expect when they hear about horrific things happening in war. Satan is the prince of darkness, he is a lyer, murderer, thief, and war is his domain for everything he is in favor of, so get used to it, if you are in favor of war being the answer. I worship the God of Peace, and Love, and the King of life, and all things pure and righteous, and I anxiously wait for His return.

[underdogus007]

Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits..................

[themooniac]

It's almost a joke when they say the military vote is right wing. The military is made up of, out of work white guys & minorities trying to advance plus Ivy League intellectuals connected to defense/university contracting. The military reflects American society precisely(although Fox News would never gather this because they think of the enlisted corp as a, single vote, uneducated, dumb enough to enlist for combat, rable.) The miltary is a 50/50 Dem-Rep split. Always has been, always will be.

[newsterI]

The Pentagon has called on WikiLeaks to return all the secret material it has obtained, but the organization has refused."
===============

GOOD! I'm glad this group has the guts to release the TRUTH about what's really been going on, and I LOVE watching the pentagon brass and their minions squirming and trying hard to do DAMAGE CONTROL LOL!
The gig is up idiots, time to fold your little war games up! Im sure the abuse and crookedness reported so far is the tip of an iceburg.

BRAVO WIKILEAKS! I want to send a donation using your web site.

[Simifanene]

You got to slow down on your coffee, mate but the Pentagon has nothing to sweat too. 99% are perfect soldiers. It's the 1 percent that hurts our flag. If Wiki-leaks allegations are true are President knows. I think he is a honorable man and will call for an Congressional investigation from a neutral party, an outsider of Washington. He knows some legal giants who could sniff out the truth to what every level it comes to. I'm still thinking about wiki=leaks. I'm sort of leaning to the Governments favor if they can defend themselves to these allegations. If the allegations are false Wiki-leaks should be destroyed because they would be endangering the world as traitors. I am a Obama supporter. If he does not order a investigation into these matters I will loose a lot of respect for the man. Until then President Obama is great man. An honorable man. A man of principle. I know he is politically being pressed, even by his best friends to avoid any investigation. I seem him today as the most honorable man in our country. He has big decision to make that could change how the world looks upon us. We will be a Country of cover ups or a the Greatest Country on the face of the earth. Every country has a miniscuel percent of criminals within it's ranks. Expose them Mr. President and the world will cheer for America.