WikiLeaks Files Detail Civilian Deaths, Iran's Aid

WikiLeaks has dumped its new trove of classified military documents, cataloging the Iraqi war's heavy toll on civilians, the systematic abuse of detainees by Iraqi police as the US looked the other way, and evidence that Iran has been helping anti-US militias more than has been acknowledged. The whistle-blowing site plans a news conference tomorrow about the 392,000 files, thought to be the biggest such release ever. Details are emerging fast and furious from the media outlets that were granted a preview. Click the links for overviews in the New York Times, the Guardian, and Der Spiegel.

Among the threads emerging:

• Iraqi authorities brutally abused detainees while the US took no action because coalition troops were not involved. (Story here.)
• The US kept track of Iraqi deaths, despite its denials, logging 109,000 between 2004 and 2009, with 66,000 of those civilians. (Story here.)
• Most civilian deaths came at the hands of fellow Iraqis, but the documents highlight previously unreported incidents in which US soldiers were to blame. (Story here.)
• Iran's military has been aggressively helping Shiite militias, with Iranian troops sometimes engaging US soldiers. (Story here.)