You will pardon me if I say I am not surprised. That is the first thing that came to my mind.

PSYOPS from Zarqawi and the MSM took the bait.

At what point will the world of jounalists figure out that the Internet will continue to take them down if they are lying and fabricating stories?

That's the practical issue. The more important cultural issue is when will the citizens of this country and the world realize just about every one of these smears are being exposed, and therefore they need to quit putting all their confidence in the MSM?

Yup, The Times of London screwed the pooch on that one. But a "smear?" I've seen pics of the dead at Haditha, so it's not as if they don't exist. The correct pics aren't any prettier than the wrong ones, so what's the "smear?" Sounds more like a mistake, i.e., the photo editor grabbed the wrong set of photos by mistake.

As for the interview with Crossen, I watched the whole thing. All 20+ minutes of it. Fascinating stuff. Fodder for the pro-war crowd, fodder for the anti-war crowd. Both sides seem to overlook a few things in that interview:

1. He was unconscious for almost the entire time after the blast. He's not a witness to anything other than the IED explosion. All of his comments about what happened afterwards are derived from what people told him or what he read or saw on TV.

2. He joined the USMC not for patriotic reasons and not because he's a fang-dripping maniac. He joined because he didn't have anything else going on in his life. It's the age-old story, and that little bit of truth satisfies no one.

3. He doesn't care one way or the other about the civilians who were massacred. Why? Partly because they interviewed him when he was on painkillers that numbed him out, but also partly because (in his words) he saw much worse at Fallujah. No one tugged at that thread. Given that the kid was unconscious after the IED blew up, I'd say the most valuable information he can offer is what he has seen in other places.

Let me clarify my second point above: "That little bit of truth satisfies no one who wants to use this kid to push their agenda."

Really - were the dead at Haditha bound?

I believe I wrote: "The Times screwed the pooch on that one." So don't cast me as defending their use of the photo.

I just don't think it makes a great deal of logical sense to call it a "smear." The photos of the Haditha dead are no more pleasant to look at than those. I mean, if the U.S. military had been holding a youth picnic and soccer match at Haditha and The Times had printed the pic of the dead bodies instead, you'd have grounds for suspicion.

But using one pic of dead bodies instead of another one that's equally gruesome is almost certainly what you'd call a "mistake" rather than a "smear," particularly given The Times of London's editorial slant.

"Fake but accurate," doncha know...

I think that's what your president said about WMD, as I recall. Or was it about the torture that wasn't torture? Or the terror that wasn't terror? God almighty, I can never keep the Liar-in-Chief's lies straight. Too many of 'em.

Perhaps a few weeks later WW can cite this photo as proof of the Haditha massacre. Surely photos of bound and executed civillians are proof, right?

You mean these lies, WW?

No, actually, all pictures are not the same. The pictures of the people in the photograph run by the Times had clearly been executed. They wore blindfolds and their hands had been tied behind their backs. Running this picture with the article would indicate execution by the Marines.

Since when has time or authenticity mattered to WW. He saw it in the paper, it must be true!

Those pictures are unimportant to WW because they document atrocities by his side. He (and the rest of his lot) will steer the conversation back to their obsession - anything America, particularly the military and the president, have done wrong. Real or imagined matters not.

They don't hold their side to the same standard, which is why their side engage in terrorism, use civilians as shields, torture, slit throats -- it works, because they get no condemnation. Can you imagine how many civilian lives would be saved if the "freedom fighters" got the same press for their war crimes that the US military is getting for Haditha.

If WW and other leftists held their side to the same standards they hold America the papers would be wall-to-wall reporting of war crimes.

Jebel

Those pictures are unimportant to WW because they document atrocities by his side.

If by that comment you mean to say that I support the Iraqis who are killing Iraqis and American troops, you are wrong.

He (and the rest of his lot) will steer the conversation back to their obsession - anything America, particularly the military and the president, have done wrong. Real or imagined matters not.

Real or imagined does in fact matter. I'm against murder no matter who commits it. I'm also against the Liar-in-Chief's actions that got this country into the Iraq War.

They don't hold their side to the same standard, which is why their side engage in terrorism, use civilians as shields, torture, slit throats -- it works, because they get no condemnation.

Again, I am not on the side of terrorism. I am against torture and murder no matter who commits it. Are you?

Can you imagine how many civilian lives would be saved if the "freedom fighters" got the same press for their war crimes that the US military is getting for Haditha.

"Freedom fighter" is your word, not mine. Why would you call terrorists freedom fighters, anyway?

If WW and other leftists held their side to the same standards they hold America the papers would be wall-to-wall reporting of war crimes.

We know that our enemies commit war crimes. It is reported. I am against war crimes. All of them. Theirs, and ours. Are you against all war crimes, or just theirs?

By the way, one other question. Isn't it the right-wingers like you who raise a piteous hue and cry and whine if the media focus on "what's wrong" in Iraq? Are you saying that you want more coverage of the chaos being caused by the insurgent activity that the U.S. has failed to stop?