US troops defend raid, say Iraqis faked "massacre

[sabra]

http://www.heraldnewsdaily.com/stories/news-00165964.html

US troops defend raid, say Iraqis faked "massacre"

BAGHDAD - U.S. commanders in Iraq on Monday accused powerful Shi‘ite groups of moving the corpses of gunmen killed in battle to encourage accusations that U.S.-led troops massacred unarmed worshippers in a mosque.

"After the fact, someone went in and made the scene look different from what it was. There‘s been huge misinformation," Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, said.

He rejected the accusations of a massacre that prompted the Shi‘ite-led government to demand U.S. forces cede control of security but declined to spell out which group he believed moved the bodies.

...

Giving the first U.S. military briefing on Sunday‘s events in Baghdad, Chiarelli said the raid by about 50 Iraqi special forces troops backed by some 25 U.S. "advisers" had been the fruit of long intelligence work. But he said he did not know the religious affiliation of 16 "insurgents" who were killed.

[RufusEarl]

1. I have questions about this raid!

Why did US forces leave the scene of the battle in this manner? I can't understand why US troops would just go in kill everything in sight get in their vehicles and drive off and leave the scene for someone else to interpret?

[pinniped]

2. What a way to treat your host country.

Call them a bunch of liars.

The US sure knows how to work magic. They can turn 16 regular victims into these so-called insurgents overnight. Of course their jobs are made easier because all of these so-called insurgents wear name tags identifying them as such. Presto change-O.

Is this like that massive bomb attack in Pakistan a month or two ago where buddies of the dead alleged al-Qaeda terra-dudes had their bodies removed to conceal their identities?

[Moderator]

3. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2191578