A spitting contest, and the Iraq War. But I repeat myself.

Injury of the Week: “A 43-year-old German man was taken by helicopter to hospital in a critical condition after he fell off a second-storey balcony during a spitting contest with his 12-year-old son. The man lost his balance after thrusting too far forward, according to police.” (Reuters)

A point I’ve made repeatedly about the Haditha massacre cover-up, is that the military higher-up’s decided not to look too closely at the story that the civilians were all caught in cross-fire ignored the fact that that story came only after the first story, that they’d been killed by an IED, fell apart. Now we find out that many were not killed by grenades as Marines “cleared” houses, as was previously reported, but were shot execution-style, close enough to leave powder burns.

Haditha residents tried several times to inform the US military what had really happened. One did so the day after the massacre to a Capt. James Haynie, who “explained to him that whoever had told him this had lied, that Marines do not execute innocent civilians.” Haynie was the battalion’s... wait for it... “information” officer.