Dispatches reveals for the first time the true story of the war in Iraq, with Iraq's Secret War Files. This is the version of events the American military didn't want you to know.
Dispatches have been given access to the biggest leak of official documents in history: 391,832 secret records that cover the American involvement in the Iraq War between 2004 and 2009.
There are over 37 million words detailing military significant activities that took place across the entire country. This material provides an unrivalled portrait of one of the most controversial wars of the modern age.
For the first time the files reveal just how much the American military detailed the escalating violence in Iraq, and how this contrasts markedly to what the politicians said in public. This is the story behind the pronouncements: the uncensored detail Washington did not want us to know.
Dispatches was given access to the files by the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, who were responsible for the last high profile leak of military information relating to Afghanistan.
With the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Dispatches built a computer programme to enable them to analyse the data and search for key words or phrases.
One of the most disturbing findings from this is how hundreds of civilians were killed by coalition forces in unreported events.
Under rules of engagement, known as escalation of force, anyone approaching the US military was warned to slow down and stop. More than 800 people were killed in EOF incidents: 681 (80%) of these were civilians; a further 2,200 were wounded. Thirteen coalition troops were killed during these incidents. Dispatches also found 30 children had been killed when shots were fired by US troops at checkpoints.
The files also paint a disturbing portrait of widespread torture in Iraqi detention facilities. We found 1,365 cases categorised in the military records as potential detainee abuse by Iraqi authorities. But we also more than 300 claims of prison abuse by coalition forces, after the Abu Ghraib scandal in April 2004.
As the war progresses the documents record a descent into chaos and horror as the occupation sparked civil war. In case after case, the logs detail thousands of bodies, many brutally tortured, dumped on the streets of Iraq.
Through these reports we see, in military snapshots, the full impact the war had on Iraqis: men, women and children. The sheer scale of the deaths, detentions and violence is laid bare for the first time.
The data shows that the Americans were aware of the horrific level of violence inflicted by Iraqi sectarian militias: over 32,500 murders; more than 10,000 shot in the head; nearly 450 decapitated; over 160 were children.
After seven years of fighting US troops are leaving Iraq. This powerful film, Iraq's Secret War Files, looks at what sort of country the Americans have left behind and what sort of future Iraqis can expect in the aftermath of the war.
