i have been reading about this massacre

and praying it is NOT true. i wasn't going to post the story, but i must. vietnam all over again??? it makes my skin crawl. someone did it that's for sure - don't know who. again, i PRAY it wasn't who they say it was

Iraqis killed by US troops ‘on rampage’


Hala Jaber and Tony Allen-Mills, New York
Claims of atrocities by soldiers mount
THE villagers of Abu Sifa near the Iraqi town of Balad had become used to the sound of explosions at night as American forces searched the area for suspected insurgents. But one night two weeks ago Issa Harat Khalaf heard a different sound that chilled him to the bone.
Khalaf, a 33-year-old security officer guarding oil pipelines, saw a US helicopter land near his home. American soldiers stormed out of the Chinook and advanced on a house owned by Khalaf’s brother Fayez, firing as they went.
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Khalaf ran from his own house and hid in a nearby grove of trees. He saw the soldiers enter his brother’s home and then heard the sound of women and children screaming.
“Then there was a lot of machinegun fire,” he said last week. After that there was the most frightening sound of all — silence, followed by explosions as the soldiers left the house.
Once the troops were gone, Khalaf and his fellow villagers began a frantic search through the ruins of his brother’s home. Abu Sifa was about to join a lengthening list of Iraqi communities claiming to have suffered from American atrocities.
According to Iraqi police, 11 bodies were pulled from the wreckage of the house, among them four women and five children aged between six months and five years. An official police report obtained by a US reporter for Knight Ridder newspapers said: “The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 people.” ..............

and from editor and publisher
British Papers Focus on Alleged U.S. 'Massacres' in Iraq

By E&P Staff Published: March 26, 2006 11:45 AM ET
NEW YORK Two leading British newspapers carried new accounts and details on alleged “massacres” of civilians in Iraq in the past four months. Except for an AP article and a Knight Ridder account published by some American papers last week the incidents have gained little exposure in the U.S. press.The most recent incident this month was first brought to light by Time magazine, as it covered another episode last November when U.S. marines killed 15 civilians in their homes in Haditha. The military at first claimed the 15 were killed by a roadside bomb. The British daily The Independent returned to this story today, adding several details, including allegations by villagers that the Americans had allowed one injured man to bleed to death. The March 15 incident took place in the village of Abu Sifa. According to Iraqi police, 11 bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a house, among them four women and five children aged between six months and five years. An official police report obtained by Knight Ridder said: “The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 people.” Knight Ridder also related that military spokesman Maj. Tim Keefe had said that while the idea of U.S. troops turning into executioners is "highly unlikely," the military is taking the accusations very seriously.....