Asia Times: The heat's on private contractors

[unhappycamper]

The heat's on private contractors
By William Fisher
Oct 26, 2010

NEW YORK - The publication of a mother lode of secret field reports from the Iraq War are shining a bright light on heretofore unknown or under-reported suspicions about the power of private security contractors and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by their fellow Iraqis, often with their United States military counterparts "turning a blind eye".

The release of the 392,832 documents by WikiLeaks - the same website responsible for the recent release of 77,000 secret reports covering six years of the Afghanistan War - drew an immediate response from the Pentagon, as well as efforts by unfriendly nations to paint the US military in the most gruesome possible light.

Geoff Morrell, the US Defense Department press secretary, strongly condemned both WikiLeaks and the release of the Iraq documents.

"We deplore WikiLeaks for inducing individuals to break the law, leak classified documents and then cavalierly share that secret information with the world, including our enemies," he said.

Iran's Press TV declared, "Whistleblower website WikiLeaks has released documents suggesting that the Pentagon instructed US-led forces to 'secretly' torture detainees in Iraq."



unhappycamper comment: Killing people is gruesome; lying about it is immoral. Torturing people is gruesome; lying about it is criminal.