While the last American soldier has left Iraq (only to return, after seasonal holidays, to nearby Kuwait), the Iraq Body Count has certainly to go on. The war isn’t over yet. The arrest warrant for Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi upon allegations of sparking violent tensions after the U.S. troop withdrawal has to be seen as a portent.

Obama’s withdrawal, heavily criticized at home, has obviously something to do with WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, and numerous known and unknown U.S. massacres of Iraqi civilians which have been conducted in the previous 104 months. When McClatchy had acquired the report by Matthew Schofield of Knight Ridder and published this particular log in the Iraqi War Logs on the Balad massacre of March 15, 2006, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s patience had already come to an end. Why should there be diplomatic immunity for American war criminals?

According to the Iraq Body Count, information provided by WikiLeaks suggests up to 15,000 more civilian deaths adding to the 104,156 to 113,804 documented civilian deaths due to violence after the U.S. and allies’ invasion had begun in March 2003.

Last update December 20, 2011.