I'd like to indulge in a little exercise, let's take a gander at several news reports on the same incident and then decide which is more accurate...

Here's one version...

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials said a U.S. airstrike killed four members of a family north of Baghdad early Wednesday. Iraqi and U.S. officials provided conflicting accounts of the incident.

Capt. Ahmed al-Azwawi, a police official in Samra, a village about seven miles south of Tikrit, said U.S. troops were conducting an operation in the area when a man fired shots in the air with an AK-47.

Azwawi said the man, who sold propane gas for a living, was afraid thieves were in the vicinity.

U.S. soldiers then retreated and called in an airstrike, Azwawi said, killing the man, his wife, and two of their children

Here's another version from the 'official' MNF_I web site...

A U.S. military statement said troops opened fire after an armed man refused to surrender and began "to move quickly with his weapon into a confrontational position."

Same incident, different versions...

Here's another take on it...

BAGHDAD: Six members of a family were killed yesterday when a US jet destroyed their house in Iraq.Four children, aged between four and 11, were among the dead in the attack near the northern town of Tikrit, Iraqi police said. However, the US military made no mention of the civilian deaths and said the house was attacked after troops took small arms fire.

It is truly sickening that we can't seem to acknowledge our f*ck-ups...

Anyways, I'd like to extrapolate on yesterday's post on the Sons of Iraq/Awakening councils and their growing disillusionment with Maliki and the US. Today, Badger reported this...

(Dar)AlHayat(Arabic version only!) quotes the Interior Ministry officer Khalaf as

admitting ... the existence of problems in Al-Anbar, and he told AlHayat: "This is manifested in the return of AlQaeda to activity in some of the regions remote from the city (Ramadi), and particularly in Faluja, which he called the center of tensions in Al-Anbar, in addition to penetrations of the security apparatus". And he said: "Restoration of security in Anbar requires the carrying out of a wide-ranging purge operation by the security apparatus here, and the support of the province with additional forces.

The journalist notes that Ramadi already has over 5000 Awakening members, and 3500 police. The journalist also quotes the provincial governor to the effect that even when the Americans turn over the security file to the Iraqi authorities, they will still remain for a period of time, and he mentioned there are 5000 US military people in Camp Mesack (?).

Hmmm... I guess the 'turnover' is largely symbolic after all... Merely another check off box on the farcical List of Provinces turned over to the GZG control! Another province McInsane/Shrub can tout as a success story! Gawd, I'm tired of this shirt...!