Memorial Day

A couple of things to think about as we otherwise enjoy our three day weekend and U.S. troops continue to die for a lie and a president's self-image.

We are not winning hearts and minds.

BAGHDAD — An American helicopter strike killed eight civilians, including two children, during an assault near the northern Iraqi town of Baiji, the Iraqi police said Thursday.

The American military confirmed that two children were among the people killed Wednesday night during an operation against “known terrorists” working with the Sunni insurgent group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

But while the military expressed regret and confirmed that an investigation was under way, it said the children were “unfortunately” killed while traveling in a vehicle whose other occupants “exhibited hostile intent.”

An Iraqi police official in Salahuddin Province said the episode, near the village of Mazraa, would inflame anti-American feelings in the mainly Sunni area 100 miles north of Baghdad.

The official, Col. Mudhir al-Qaysi of the Baiji police force, cited police officials in the village who claimed that they had gone to the site of the assault “and found the killed family unarmed, and the bodies were burned and torn apart.”

Colonel Qaysi said, “The scene of the bodies is ugly, and these acts are unacceptable.” He said that the dead included seven members of one family, including a child no older than 5. “We were hoping that the American Army would seek to improve its image after many crimes carried out by its soldiers in Iraq,” he said.

In a statement, the American-led forces in Baghdad said the deaths happened during a raid on fighters belonging to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a Sunni insurgent group that American intelligence officials believe is led by foreigners. “The targeted individuals were known terrorists who were operating a facility used for weapons storage,” said the American military statement released Thursday.

And now more of our troops are likely to die.

Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric has been quietly issuing religious edicts declaring that armed resistance against U.S.-led foreign troops is permissible — a potentially significant shift by a key supporter of the Washington-backed government in Baghdad.

The edicts, or fatwas, by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani suggest he seeks to sharpen his long-held opposition to American troops and counter the populist appeal of his main rivals, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia.

But — unlike al-Sadr's anti-American broadsides — the Iranian-born al-Sistani has displayed extreme caution with anything that could imperil the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

It's time to go.