WTF?

The unprovoked U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has now officially entered The Twilight Zone.

Da-da-da-dah da-da-da-dahhh...

Can anyone say for sure whether U.S. forces mistakenly slaughtered 16 innocent Shiites or did some Shiite groups fake the whole news?

This report quotes U.S. commanders saying, "After the fact, someone went in and made the scene look different from what it was. There's been huge misinformation." But is that the same as saying the whole thing was faked?

The NY Times article lede:

Frayed relations between Iraq's Shiite leadership and the American authorities came under increased strain on Monday as Shiite leaders angrily denounced a joint American-Iraqi raid on a Shiite compound and suspended negotiations over a new government.

The raid on Sunday evening, which killed at least 16 people, also prompted the governor of Baghdad to announce a halt in cooperation with the American authorities, and Shiite militiamen to brandish their weapons in the streets of eastern Baghdad and declare their readiness to retaliate against American troops.

So is this Lieutenant Calley My Lai massacre time, or just a manipulated triumph by radical Shiite cleric and oft-time occupation antagonist Moktada al-Sadr?

Even the consistently reliable and generally unflappable Juan Cole says:

All hell broke loose in Iraq on Sunday, but I'm darned if I can figure out most of what happened or why. It seems possible that the US committed two major military blunders that will worsen its relationship with Iraqi political forces.

He does offer a conjecture, the first plausible one I've read:

I have a sinking feeling that instead of raiding a Sunni Arab building in Adhamiyah, they got disoriented and attacked a Shiite religious center in nearby Shaab instead. Iraqi television angrily showed twenty unarmed corpses on the floor of the religious center, denouncing the US for killing innocent worshippers.

I'm just hoping there's not some nightmare retaliation around the corner. (Hate the war; support the troops.)

Just thinking, could this be the turning point where we finally start to GTF out?