The latest WikiLeaks document dump proves that the Pentagon has known for a long time just how bad the situation is in Iraq, says The Nation‘s Jeremy Scahill. What’s worse, they lied to the American public about the full scope of civilian casualties in the country—all while accusing the media of publishing exaggerated figures. Scahill, author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army and of the recent article "WikiLeaks and War Crimes," sums up the case on The Countdown with Keith Olbermann: the Bush adminstration "was lying, supporting death squads, turning a blind eye to torture  by Iraqi soldiers to Iraqi detainees] and [committing] torture themselves."

Scahill says that the Obama adminstration needs to stop protecting people such as Donald Rumsfeld and hold members of the Bush adminstration "accountable [for] the serious crimes" that they committed. The latest WikiLeaks dump also provides further evidence that Blackwater killed Iraqi civilians, and Scahill says that the question for the Obama adminstration is: "Why continue to use a firm with such a criminal record track record…of shooting civilians…in Afghanistan when the US is trying to win hearts and minds?"

—Joanna Chiu