US strike 'kills Iraqi civilians'

From the BBC:

Eight civilians have been killed in an air strike by US military helicopters north of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

Two children were among those who died in the attack on Wednesday evening near the town of Baiji, the police said.

Baiji's police chief said the attack targeted a group of shepherds in a farming area. The US military said the incident was under investigation.

..............

A US military spokeswoman, Lt Col Maura Gillen, said one of its helicopters fired in the Baiji area after noting "suspicious activity", and she said people travelling in a car had ignored warnings to stop their vehicle.

Locals said some of those killed had been people running away on foot after the US forces entered the area.

A local man, Ghafil Rashed, told Reuters that his brother and son had been killed in the attack: "The Americans raided our houses... People started fleeing with their children, then the aircraft started bombing people in a street along the farm." (emphasis added)

Comment: The most effective way for the news media, even the BBC, to depersonalize murder is to put the victims in quotes, e.g. 'kills Iraqi civilians.' Presumably, in spite of eyewitnesses, the helicopter pilot is given the benefit of the doubt, as if it was somehow acceptable to bomb 'suspicious people' or cars that refuse to stop.

As we have stated ad nauseum, bombing civilians is a war crime.

How do we ever stop this insanity?