Talk:Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque
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Initial news reports emphasized two points:
- that US forces attacked a mosque
- that many people inside a mosque were killed
The obvious implication, is the biased point of view that:
- Any attack on a mosque is a violation of international law
- The US attacked a mosque.
- Therefore, the US clearly violated international law (and should be condemned!)
The number of people killed inside the mosque -- the implication is that they were "worshippers exiting after prayers" makes it a crime against humanity or similar atrocity.
It was only later stories -- or paragraphs buried deeper within early stories -- which revealed that US forces came under attack from the mosque.
This is the kind of reporting Wikipedia has to watch out for.
Not to say that US marine officers should automatically be believed (that would be an America-centric POV, which would not be neutral). But to trumpet (a) military action on a mosque or (b) civilians killed -- with no balancing explanatian is wrong, too. It is anti-America POV, which is also not neutral. --Uncle Ed 14:07, 8 Apr 2004 (UTC)
