NYT,Iraq Attack:Many Versions,Obscure Truth (press coverage) [View All]

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Attack in Iraq: Many Versions, Obscure Truth

By IAN FISHER

Published: April 26, 2004


BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 25 — A roadside bomb killed a young American soldier on Sunday morning inside this city, the kind of attack so common in this war that it no longer makes headlines.

After he was evacuated, his Humvee was set on fire. Children rushed out of school to celebrate the attack — a reaction that until the most recent spike of rage and violence here was almost unheard of inside the capital. American soldiers began shooting at rooftop snipers. At least one Iraqi, a teenager whose name was given by neighbors as Hassan Fallah, was killed in the cross-fire.

Those details, at least, seem certain enough....But determining the truth of what happened in incidents like this one is becoming increasingly difficult. Reality, at this pivotal moment for the Americans in Iraq, is a kaleidoscope of versions....

(There are conflicting reports as to the number of children killed, and whether "gunmen" fired at the soldiers from rooftops.)

***

In recent weeks, it has become harder for Western reporters to sift through conflicting accounts of incidents like this one. They venture outside only briefly. Many are afraid, mostly ensconced in hotels and houses protected by huge concrete blast walls, because of the recent wave of kidnappings and killings of foreigners. (And this reporter, who arrived at the attack scene about six hours afterward, stayed only about 45 minutes — far less than he might have several months ago.)...


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/international/middleeast/26ATTA.html