Torture as a Footnote

The latest documents made public by WikiLeaks reveal many cases of torture and maltreatment of prisoners. The reports always end with the same conclusion: “No further investigation necessary.”

The classified Iraq military reports made public by WikiLeaks reveal everyday life in the military — and it’s anything but peaceful: more than 100,000 civilian victims, mistreatment of prisoners by Iraqi security forces and the U.S. Army and the deadly role played by private mercenaries. Those are the main revelations.

Numerous reports detail how prisoners were demoralized, shot at, beaten with cables, chains and clubs and suffered serious burns. The reports inevitably conclude with the statement, “No further investigation necessary.”

The documents cover the period from 2004 to 2009 and thus include the years 2006 and 2007 when the war escalated the most. They therefore cover the majority of the George W. Bush years, as well as almost one entire year of Barack Obama’s presidency. Special attention is drawn to reports that indicate the U.S. Army — and presumably also the British army — knew via Iraqi security force sources that torture and mistreatment of prisoners was common. Yet neither country did anything to prevent it.

More telling is the 2004 order issued by American military headquarters labeled “Frago 242,” which ordains that in cases of mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by Iraqi security forces, only a memo to that effect should be written but that no further investigation was authorized.

Sometime in 2009, reports surfaced of a prisoner admitted to a hospital with serious acid burns, numerous bruises and contusions and several amputations. He had been taken into military custody several days earlier, accused of planting an explosive device. The case was referred to the responsible U.S. military commander for investigation, but no one was ever charged in the incident.

Another individual who had been arrested by Iraqi security forces and held in an underground bunker had his hands bound behind his back, and he was suspended from the ceiling while his interrogators tortured him with electrical shocks. He was later treated by U.S. Army doctors, where his injuries were dutifully noted, and the report was forwarded up the chain of command with the observation: “No further investigation necessary.”

Similar incidents occurred well into 2009 after Obama became president. The reports give no indication whatsoever that any policies had changed along with the changes in the White House. They shed new light on what the future withdrawal of U.S. troops and the passing of responsibility to Iraqi forces will mean.

Besides the many reports of civilians killed and those who were kidnapped, murdered or fell victim to bomb attacks, there are also many reports of incidents in which the U.S. Army played a direct role. On Feb. 27, 2007, for example, an American attack helicopter pursued a group of insurgents in a light truck. After a firefight, two surviving insurgents fled in an automobile. When they exited the car and tried to surrender, a military lawyer in the control center declared that the insurgents couldn’t surrender to a helicopter and were therefore still legitimate targets. The U.S. forces opened fire but missed both men, who took refuge in a nearby shed where they were eventually killed.

Private security forces such as the infamous Blackwater company, since renamed Xe Services, have contributed significantly to the escalation of the war. Over and over, their personnel reacted in tense situations by firing wildly in every direction with no consideration for the lives of innocent bystanders. After a bomb attack on Aug. 22, 2006, a military report stated that Blackwater personnel had “recklessly fired into a crowd of people.”

In another instance, employees of the Romanian security firm Danubia Global killed three Iraqis in Fallujah in 2006 and later refused to verify the incident. They claimed their company’s policy prohibited them from commenting on investigations.

There have been numerous incidents where private security personnel fired on employees of other private firms, on Iraqi police and military personnel and even on U.S. troops. But they also fell victim to attacks and roadside bombs that they were carrying in their own pickup trucks. About 175 private security personnel are reported to have been killed during this period.

Some of the reports released by WikiLeaks may have no basis in fact. But anyone reading the military report concerning the now-infamous July 12 helicopter attack in which cheering U.S. troops gunned down 13 unarmed civilians, among them two children, will find no hint of scandal; the report claims the helicopter came under enemy attack and returned fire, killing 13 “AIF” (Anti-Iraqi Forces). None of that is true.

These reports are only gradually changing the true picture of the Iraq War. But the role of the U.S. government, including the present administration, is slowly becoming more apparent. And no one can use the excuse that they didn’t have any information and that they had no knowledge of what was happening.