Wikileaks documents: 31 Iraqi people died each day of Iraq war

Over the objections of U.S. military officials, Wikileaks has released its latest pile of classified documents. An initial look at the trove by a handful of news agencies that were granted early access, such as ABC and the Guardian, reveals the death toll in Iraq to be about 31 Iraqi people each day. 

Al Jazeera is reporting that war that began under President George W. Bush in 2003 included unknown abuses. Documents, the news agency says, include evidence that highlight some evils under the Iraqi government such as cases of state-sanctioned torture, death squads, and Iranian involvement in "funneling arms to Shiite militias." The Guardian meanwhile reports that documents show that the U.S. government turned a blind eye to reports of torture and abuse by Iraqi law enforcement officers and soldiers.

The much-anticipated release of more than 391,000 documents from the war and occupation in Iraq include soldier reports that date from Jan. 1, 2004, to Dec. 31, 2009.

The documents, according to a note from Wikileaks, record 109,032 deaths in Iraq, including 66,081 "civilians," 23,984 "enemy" or suspected insurgents, 15,196 "host nation" or Iraqi government forces, and 3,771 "friendly" coalition forces.

Reporters affiliated with dscriber have begun sifting through the documents.