Do you want to know why folks abroad don’t like America? It’s because of reports like this one in the BBC:
The BBC has uncovered new video evidence that US forces may have been responsible for the deliberate killing of 11 innocent Iraqi civilians (source).
That line is the lead from the story, but it’s not even the most provocative part (nor necessarily inaccurate). In one of the paragraphs that follow, the story suggests that this kind of atrocity is routine for American troops. In reporting the announcement that U.S. soldiers will be undergoing “ethical training†as a result of the killing, the BBC reports:
The news of ethical training for US-led troops is likely to be greeted with cynicism by many Iraqis, the BBC’s Ian Pannell in Baghdad says, as the troops have long been accused of deliberately targeting civilians (source).
Now what is the average Brit going to conclude after reading this story? He or she is going to conclude that U.S. troops in Iraq are monsters on a killing spree. It’s one thing to say that a small group of soldiers may have committed a crime against Iraqis (and if it’s true they should be tried and convicted of murder). It’s quite another thing to suggest that this represents the normal behavior of our men and women in uniform.
It’s no wonder that the rest of the world opposes our efforts in Iraq when this is the kind of press that we get.
