How nice of them to admit it a day later, when no one will notice. Right now, all eyes and ears are on the stock markets.
I blame Bush!
I believe it was distributed by the AP without verification... straight from an Iraqi 'news' source.
ROOOOOOOOOVE!!!!!!
Doesn't matter. Damage done. MSM mission accomplished.
Wonder whether Jamil Hussein was their original source...
CNN is now claiming that they also confirmed the incident from the Iraqi Interior Ministry before it got debunked. The Interior Ministry has been one of the main offices of disinformation in the past along with the Health Ministry.
Correspondents could not criticize the Allied conduct of the war.
Correspondents could not send demoralizing dispatches.
Correspondents could not report casualties or quote officers without authorization.
Correspondents were placed under the jurisdiction of the army and were subject to court martial for serious offenses.
(more regulations at the link).
http://www.nysun.com/article/49527
Report of Soccer Field Deaths "False"
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 28, 2007 posted 9:56 am EST
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A report that 18 boys were killed this week in a car bombing in Ramadi is "false," a senior American military official said Wednesday.
[snip]
But Rear Admiral Mark Fox, an American military spokesman, said "the allegation was false" and suggested that rumors began circulating after a controlled detonation by American forces caused injuries in Ramadi.
On Tuesday, a military statement said 30 civilians and one Iraqi soldier were injured by flying debris when troops destroyed 15 bags of explosives. None of the injuries was life-threatening, it added.
"There was no second blast," Admiral Fox told reporters, "and there was no 18 children killed."