Putting Haditha in perspective
Dahr Jamail in Truthout makes a point that a number of people, including myself, have suggested, namely that Haditha is a known mass murder, behind which are all the other mass murders and killings of civilians by US military personnel:
In a related statement:
Al Maliki said his patience was wearing thin from excuses that killed civilians by mistake,Reuters reports. One can be forgiven for thinking his patience should have worn thin, oh, say, several 100 Iraqis ago.
Similarly, in the city of Samara on May 5, MHRI reported, "American soldiers entered the house of Mr. Zidan Khalif Al-Heed after an attack upon American soldiers was launched nearby the house. American soldiers entered this home and killed the family, including the father, mother and daughter who is in the 6th grade, along with their son, who was suffering from mental and physical disabilities."
This same group, MHRI, also estimated that between 4,000 and 6,000 Iraqi civilians were killed during the November 2004 US assault on Fallujah. Numbers which make those from the Haditha massacre pale in comparison.
Instead of reporting incidents such as these, mainstream outlets are referring to the Haditha slaughter as one of a few cases that "present the most serious challenge to US handling of the Iraq war since the Abu Ghraib prison scandal."
In a related statement:
Al Maliki said his patience was wearing thin from excuses that killed civilians by mistake,Reuters reports. One can be forgiven for thinking his patience should have worn thin, oh, say, several 100 Iraqis ago.
