US military admits it lied about killing innocent Iraqis last month

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuXxuhwd08-hJxlnNqFHd_5tJ6oQD926EA580

By KIM GAMEL – 46 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military admitted Sunday that American soldiers killed innocent civilians after opening fire on a car last month on the heavily secured Baghdad airport road.

The statement — which called the man and two women killed "law abiding citizens of Iraq" — reversed earlier military claims that they were suspected militants who shot at a parked American convoy.

The military blamed the shooting on a series of misunderstandings and said "neither the soldiers nor civilians involved in the incident were at fault."

The June 25 shooting deaths sparked controversy after Iraqi officials identified the three people killed as bank employees, not militants. The initial military statement claiming they were suspected militants raised concerns because it suggested that tight security on the road leading to Baghdad international airport had been penetrated.

[Supersedeas]

1. so why lie about it?

[gratuitous]

2. Why lie?

Well, we went from "They wuz terrorists and coming right at us!" to "Well, okay, they were completely innocent, but nobody's really to blame here." I'm going to guess that an independent look at the circumstances surrounding this massacre might just find someplace for blame to land. Of course, we won't get any of that, as the only people competent to stand in judgment of our military are . . . our military. Neat, huh?

[noamnety]

5. habit. (n/t)

[spanone]

3. i imagine at one point, the world is going to put the u.s. on ignore

[checks-n-balances]

4. Sure, admit it now after the damage is done!

That's routinely the MO of the RW, isn't it!

Although usually they don't ever come out and admit lying about it.