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Even the reporter who wrote the story didn't want to believe it. Could U.S. troops in central Iraq really have handcuffed and executed an extended family, including four women and five small children?
Matthew Schofield of McClatchy Newspapers wrote the story about those allegations more than five years ago, based on reports from Iraqi authorities and a medical examiner in the town of Ishaqi, an incident American forces allegedly tried to cover up with a subsequent airstrike.
From March 2006 until today, Schofield had not been able to put the story out of mind. And now, despite repeated denials by U.S. military officials of any misdeed, a diplomatic cable newly released by WikiLeaks corroborates the newsman's concerns.
"We need a thorough investigation of this," Schofield said. "It's been too long. We need to know what happened in Ishaqi."
It's far from certain we will get a definitive answer. Back then, the war in Iraq had spiraled into its most violent period. The media scrambled to keep up with daily violence. Reporters had enough on their hands trying to account for an attack several months earlier, in which U.S. Marines retaliated for a roadside bombing in Haditha by killing two dozen Iraqis, including women and children.
Today, much of the American public and media have moved on. The deadliest American war is now in Afghanistan. Economic anguish and the odd hurricane fill the headlines. Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, we would all prefer to recall the heroic moments in the war on terror — such as the cops and firefighters giving up their own lives to rescue fellow New Yorkers and the overwhelming majority of troops who have fought honorably for their country.
Scumbags.
Even the reporter who wrote the story didn't want to believe it. Could U.S. troops in central Iraq really have handcuffed and executed an extended family, including four women and five small children?
Matthew Schofield of McClatchy Newspapers wrote the story about those allegations more than five years ago, based on reports from Iraqi authorities and a medical examiner in the town of Ishaqi, an incident American forces allegedly tried to cover up with a subsequent airstrike.
From March 2006 until today, Schofield had not been able to put the story out of mind. And now, despite repeated denials by U.S. military officials of any misdeed, a diplomatic cable newly released by WikiLeaks corroborates the newsman's concerns.
"We need a thorough investigation of this," Schofield said. "It's been too long. We need to know what happened in Ishaqi."
It's far from certain we will get a definitive answer. Back then, the war in Iraq had spiraled into its most violent period. The media scrambled to keep up with daily violence. Reporters had enough on their hands trying to account for an attack several months earlier, in which U.S. Marines retaliated for a roadside bombing in Haditha by killing two dozen Iraqis, including women and children.
Today, much of the American public and media have moved on. The deadliest American war is now in Afghanistan. Economic anguish and the odd hurricane fill the headlines. Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, we would all prefer to recall the heroic moments in the war on terror — such as the cops and firefighters giving up their own lives to rescue fellow New Yorkers and the overwhelming majority of troops who have fought honorably for their country.
Scumbags.
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