BBC 6/1/2006 Ishaqi Massacre Video

June 1, 2006 - BBC "breaks" Ishaqi story in propaganda stunt

On June 1, 2006 the BBC released a story detailing an alleged “massacre” at Ishaqi on March 15, 2006. Dahr Jamail had reported on the incident and had photographs posted nearly two months before. Not only was the BBC's story delayed by two and a half months, but its timing was concurrent with a peak in media interest in the Haditha Massacre scandal. It was not surprising that the very next day ABC published a story entitled, “US Military Denies New Abuse Allegation at Ishaqi" reporting that the US Military had conducted an investigation and found that there was no basis for claims of a massacre. The idea that the BBC could “break” a story and the military could respond, investigate it and have a press release about it in time for ABC to report the military's findings the next day is ridiculous. This series of events served primarily to distract people from the Haditha story and sow seeds of doubt. Savvy journalists should have seen the set-up a mile away.