Kucinich on WikiLeaks: 'American people have a right to know'

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) responded to the WikiLeaks release on Friday with a statement saying, "We need a true accounting of the war in Iraq. The American people have a right to know how many innocent civilians were killed in a war based on lies."

"We must remember that the Iraqi people are still grieving over the loss of husbands, wives, sons and daughters who were innocent noncombatants," Kucinich stated. "We have a moral responsibility to acknowledge the massive loss to the people of Iraq and the world. ... The suffering of the Iraqi people is unfathomable."

Kucinich has been a consistent voice speaking out against the war in Iraq and the loss of civilian lives in that nation under both Republican and Democratic administrations. According to his own website, "On October 14, 2005, Rep. Kucinich wrote Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to request a copy of all Pentagon records pertaining to Iraqi civilian casualties. While the Pentagon maintained that it does not keep a list of civilian casualties, there has been abundant evidence to indicate the contrary. Rep. Kucinich still has not received such records."

Last August, Rep. Kucinich challenged the notion that the Obama administration's withdrawal of 50,000 troops constituted an actual end to combat operations.

"Who is in charge of our operations in Iraq now?" he asked. "George Orwell? A war based on lies continues to be a war based on lies. Today, we have a war that is not a war, with combat troops who are not combat troops. ... This is not the end of the war; this is simply a new stage in the campaign to lull the American people into accepting an open-ended presence in Iraq."