The BBC is reporting that it has come into posession of a video tape that shows the results of another civilian massacre allegedly carried out by US forces in Iraq. I hadn't heard of this, or seen this diaried today.
The BBC has uncovered new video evidence that US forces may have been responsible for the deliberate killing of 11 innocent Iraqi civilians.
The video appears to challenge the US military's account of events that took place in the town of Ishaqi in March.
The US said at the time four people died during a military operation, but Iraqi police claimed that US troops had deliberately shot the 11 people.
A spokesman for US forces in Iraq told the BBC an inquiry was under way.
The BBC Story
At first, I misread the headline and thought that the BBC had come into posession of a video of the Haditha massacre, but apparently this incident happened more recently, just a few months ago. I'm stunned by this, and I can only hope that either the BBC got it wrong, but it seems like they have done their work to be sure and they also seem to be aware that there is a lot at stake in getting it right.
The new evidence comes in the wake of the alleged massacre in Haditha, where US marines are suspected of massacring up to 24 Iraqi civilians in November 2005.
The true impact of the Haditha incident hasn't quite really hit home, both here and in Iraq, and now there is this additional bit of poisoned frosting to add to that cake. These things are happening too quickly for the White House to put any kind of containment spin on all of it. Unlike the Haditha massacre, where the various horrible images were taken by the military and are connected to an official investigation so they will not be made public, this video tape contains images that are bound to become public, if not the tape broadcast itself at some point.
The BBC News personel who ran down this new story claims to have cross-checked the material that has been gathered from other violent attacks at the time and that he can find no evidence that this isn't what it is alleged to be.
I cannot see how this incident, if this material is verified as being what the BBC says it is, combined with the pending results from the Haditha investigation, will not speed the process of Iraq becoming even worse that we have seen yet. But with the added nightmare of the United States being completely undermined and exposed by these latest revelations in ways that will make Bush's existing no WMD and no Al-Qaida related credibility gaps seem minor.
There comes a point when even the most loyal and friendly of Iraqi insiders will throw up their hands, and I don't think its possible to 'contain' one, let alone two, Haditha-style acts of mayhem.
UPDATE:
Crooks and Liars Video
Crooks and Liars has a report with video, and a couple of viewing formats so you have options to see it depending on the video player you prefer.
Bonus: Crooks and Liars also has a rundown of what some of the more unhinged rightwing heavy-hitters of the wingnutosphere are saying. (As if you couldn't guess what Michelle Malkin's take on the massacre in Haditha is by just remembering every other insane to inane thing that she's ever said or written.)