A database of possible American war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that the military-justice system rarely punishes perpetrators. By Parker Yesko  Illustration by Nicholas Konrad War entails unspeakable violence, much of it entirely legal. And yet, some violence is so abhorrent that it falls outside the bounds of law. When the perpetrators are U.S. service members, the American military is supposed to hold them to account. It is also supposed to keep records of wrongdoing in a systematic manner. But it has failed to do so, leaving the public unable to determine whether the military brings its members to justice for the atrocities they have committed. To remedy this failing, the team of the In the Dark podcast, which has been reporting on the killings of civilians in Haditha, Iraq, combed through a wide array of primary sources, filed numerous requests under the Freedom of Information Act, and even repeatedly sued the military to get answers. The result is the largest known collection of investigations of possible war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11—nearly eight hundred incidents in all. The database makes it possible, for the first time, to see hundreds of allegations of war crimes—the kinds that stain a nation—in one place, along with the findings of investigations and the results of prosecutions. Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | 
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