Evidence Proves US Missile Caused 62 Iraqi Civilian Deaths

The Independent's Robert Fisk has uncovered a missile fragment that was found at the site of the tragic explosion at the Baghdad market that killed at least 62 Iraqi civilians that proves the missile was manufactured by Raytheon Corporation in the US:
"The numbers on the fragment ­retrieved from the scene and not shown to the Iraqi authorities ­read: '30003-704ASB7492'. The letter 'B' was partially obscured by scratches and may be an 'H'. It was followed by a second code: 'MFR 96214 09.' An online database of suppliers maintained by the Defence Logistics Information Service, part of the Department of Defence, showed that the reference MFR 96214 was the identification or 'cage' number of a Raytheon plant in the city of McKinney, Texas."

This follows many days of accusations by US and British officials that the explosion was likely caused by Iraqi anti-aircraft missiles.

But this is more than the failure of one missile. It also marks a much larger failure of communication by the US military and political people running this war. As soon as the market massacre occurred on Friday (the second in one week), they wasted no time pointing fingers at the Iraqi government. In this case, proof was found implicating the US in this tragedy, something they probably did not count on.

The episode further damages the credibility of the stories coming out of CentCom and the Pentagon, as it fits a pattern of not taking full blame and responsibility for the civilian costs of this war.

The US propaganda strategy seems to be: blame everything on Saddam Hussein, and if that's not possible, then just blame it all on the Iraqis themselves.
-- market gets blasted and people torn to shreds: Saddam's missiles mistakenly fell, or he did it on purpose to score points against the US.
-- 7 (or 10, they can't even get that right) women and children get shot at a checkpoint: they must have had a deathwish by not stopping after warning shots (never mind that the report from the scene indicated the warning shots were late).

Not only is none of this flying with anyone in the world watching the real news (i.e. not the American cable networks), but it's a peculiar way of gaining the trust and good will of a people they are supposed to be "liberating."