On January 29, 2008, AP/Yahoo ran a similar story about another mass grave. Here is the story: "A morgue worker inspects bodies of 19 people in Baqouba, Iraq, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008. The bodies, 10 of which were headless, were discovered by the police in Wajihiya area, a former al-Qaida stronghold near the town of Muqdadiyah.(AP Photo)" Accompanying that story was the photo below (1/29).
Another photo was on the AP/Yahoo news site dealing with the same 1/29 mass grave finding. Here is the storyline: "Morgue workers inspect bodies of 19 people in Baqouba, Iraq, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008. The bodies, 10 of which were headless, were discovered by the police in Wajihiya area, a former al-Qaida stronghold near the town of Muqdadiyah. (AP Photo)" Accompanying that story was the photo below (1/29)
These pictures appear to have been taken on the same day.
In the top and bottom photo is a young man dressed in blue, wearing gloves. He is wearing the same clothes in both pictures. In the top photo (from 2/9) he is on the far right. It looks like he has rolled his pant legs up as if he is wearing shorts. In the bottom photo (from 1/29) he is the one on the right, bending over. His pant legs appear to be down. He is wearing white gloves in both pictures. But the clothing appears identical in the 2/9 and 1/29 pictures.
Now look at the man in the dark brown jacket and tan pants in the top photo (2/9). He has a white handkerchief over his mouth in the top picture. He is also in the middle photo (1/29) walking around the perimeter of where the bodies are laid out. He is wearing the same dark brown jacket and tan pants on both days.
Also look at the vehicle in the top picture (2/9). It seems to be missing from where it should be parked in the bottom photo (1/29), if in fact the pictures were taken the same day. Explantion? Several of the men seen in the top 2 pictures left in the car, leaving just the 3 men visible in the bottom photo (1/29). Again, it is difficult to make judgements since the camera angles are very different in each picture. But reading the stories and looking at the pictures, I'm thinking AP/Yahoo is running photos from one incident and reporting on 2 different "mass grave" findings.
UPDATE 2/24 3:43: Gateway Pundit found more suspicious photos. He also got the following confirmation from MNF-I:
INITIAL REPORT:101319: DURING MEDOP MISSION CONDUCTED ON 09FEB08, 2/D/1-68 RECEIVED A TIP REGARDING THE LOCATION FOR A MASS GRAVE SITE; 2/D/1-68 CONDUCT A SEARCH AND FOUND THE REMAINS OF 10-12 X BODIES (ONLY BONES), SOME OF WHICH LOOKED LIKE THEIR HANDS WERE TIED BEHIND THEIR BACKS, AND 3 X SKULLS, ONE OF WHICH APPEARS TO HAVE A BULLET HOLE. IP CONDUCTING JOINT PATROL WITH PTT ARRIVED ON SITE AND CONTINUED THE INVESTIGATION. AFTER FURTHER ANALYSIS IPS/PTT DETERMINED THERE WERE 7 X SKULLS AND 3 X TORSOS ALONG WITH OTHER VARIOUS BODY PARTS . ALL AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF DECOMPOSITION. PTT REPORTS IT WILL CONTINUE INVESTIGATION WITH IPS TOMORROW DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS. DUE TO THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE BODIES, THEY HAVE LIKELY BEEN THERE FOR MONTHS. THE GRAVE SITE MAY BE REMNANTS OF THE VIOLENCE FROM THE SAMARA MOSQUE BOMBINGS IN JUN 07.
