Iraq War Logs: The Humanitarian Catastrophe of the Iraq War.

The Wikileaks Iraq War Logs provide detailed confirmation about how the USA colluded with the Iraqi authorities in appalling crimes that were inherent in the ruthless way this war was conceived and executed, an invasion that reflected the "geostrategic desperation" of the USA and Britain in wanting control over Iraqi oil.

The fact that the USA and Britain failed to get that as China makes inroads in controlling Iraqi oil concessions simply shows the unintended consequences of Iraq, a war costing trillions of dollars which intensified the colossal debts of both nations, brought about overstretch and permanently damaged the standing of both powers across the globe.

The Guardian reported on the significance of the leaks that,

A grim picture of the US and Britain's legacy in Iraq has been revealed in a massive leak of American military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.

Almost 400,000 secret US army field reports have been passed to the Guardian and a number of other international media organisations via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The electronic archive is believed to emanate from the same dissident US army intelligence analyst who earlier this year is alleged to have leaked a smaller tranche of 90,000 logs chronicling bloody encounters and civilian killings in the Afghan war.

The new logs detail how:

• US 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.

• 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 numerous reports of detainee abuse, often supported by medical evidence, describe prisoners shackled, blindfolded and hung by wrists or ankles, and subjected to whipping, punching, kicking or electric shocks. Six reports end with a detainee's apparent death.

This is the first draft of the history of the Second Gulf War's humanitarian impact. Those who supported this oil grab on the basis of a "humanitarian intervention" should have pause for thought. Yet those like Kingston University's Brian Brivati have fallen curiously silent. Christopher Hitchens has not written much on Iraq recently.