Iraqi Claims U.S. GIs Beat Wounded Man (Updated)

They couldn't ignore it, they failed at minimizing it, so when all else fails delegitimize it by besmirching the troops involved.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An Iraqi man who was one of the first people on the scene of the U.S. airstrike targeting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said he saw American troops beating a man who had a beard like the al-Qaida leader.

The witness, who lives near the house where al-Zarqawi spent his last days, said he saw the man lying on the ground near an irrigation canal. He was badly wounded but still alive, the man told Associated Press Television News.

U.S. troops arriving on the scene wrapped the man's head in an Arab robe and began beating him, said the local man, who refused to give his name or show his face to the camera. His account could not be independently verified.

Ok he - refuses to give his name, refuses to show his face, there is no independent verification and his assertions are damaging to American interests, it fits perfectly into the Medias template......sounds like the typical ideal source to me.

Update: Oh, and one more thing, the witness could not have seen it.