Accounts Differ on Raid in Baghdad

by Karin Brulliad, Washington Post Staff Writer

The U.S. military has said that Iraqi troops entered a mosque in Hurriyah Monday and detained around 50 people who were later released. Following that operation, a separate group of 20 armed men attacked US and Iraqi soliders with grenades and guns -- resulting in the deaths of 3 insurgents upon return fire. Iraq's interior ministry said instead that six civilians were killed and more injured in an US helicopter attack. Witnesses apparently saw indiscriminate shooting but no fire from a helicopter.

So who's to believe? Its tough to bet against witnesses on the ground and the US's recent ability to not divulge the whole truth about everything, but I'd imagine there is a figment of truth in each situation. Regardless, the point of this incident is much larger. It's very likely that the US soldiers did not actually start the firefight, but who knows at this point, because the real travesty is that America's young men and women are still stuck in a battle they can't win. They are, in essence, trying to fix something that is centuries old in a country they really know nothing about.