Haditha Coverage Coverup

NPR tries to cover the Haditha massacre. They do a thorough job of reporting on how the investigation into the likely murder of several dozen unarmed Iraqis will spoil the memory of the Marine whose killing was the most immediate trigger for the massacre. They also report on how the massacre might affect the image of the US military (esp. as repercussions from the Abu Ghraib scandal are finally waning). BUT what about the effect on the families, friends, coworkers of the massacred Iraqis in Haditha? Do they count for nothing?

Also NPR fails to look into whether this incident is an aberration or does it fall within a pattern of behavior. I know from reading the Marines' magazine Leatherneck, that all armed opposition forces to the US military actions are now called "terrorists." Also NPR might have done well to look at the Human Rights Watch report from way back in 2003 that looked at "legally questionable" civilian killings by the US or their report on the Fallujah killings long before the US destruction of that city.