US warplanes and helicopters bombed two villages near the Iraq city of Ramadi, killing an estimated 70 militants, the military said today. But witnesses said at least 39 were civilians.
(Source: The Independent)

This didn’t even make any of the TV news headlines today. And it was quite far down on the Independent and Guardian websites. On the BBC website it was reported as “US strikes kill ’70 Iraq rebels’ . ” No ambiguity there, all the people killed were rebels – they must have been since that’s what the US military says. And we have to trust the word of liars, murderers and torturers, don’t we?

Apparently, a crowd had gathered around a wrecked US vehicle, so the US military, that great protector of peace and liberty decided to murder them. After all they were all terrorists, they were wearing big signs saying “I AM A TERRORIST!” that the killers could read even from a high altitude.

But several witnesses and one local leader said the people were civilians who had gathered to gawk at the wreckage of the US vehicle or pick pieces off of it — as often occurs after an American vehicle is hit. The airstrike hit the crowd, killing 25 civilians, said Chiad Saad, a tribal leader, and several witnesses who refused to give their names to protect their security.
(Source: The Independent)

Another wonderful implementation of The American Dream in Iraq. Well done, US military, more Iraqis successfully liberated from the tyranny of being alive.

And well done our mass media. Apparently Iraqi life is now so cheap that the slaughter of 40+ civilians doesn’t even warrant a mention on our news. But imagine if an Al Quaeda bomb had killed 40 Western civilians… what kind of coverage would that have got?

It’s an obvious facet of our media: Iraqi lives don’t matter, only Western lives do.

An Associated Press stringer later saw the 14 bodies and the damaged building. He said residents, many of them crying, removed the bodies from the scene and buried them, some wrapped in white cloth, others in wooden coffins. One of the bodies was that of a boy who appeared to be between the ages of 10 and 15, the stringer said.
(Source: The Independent)

Please read the full article, linked above, for the full story, if your blood pressure can take it.