The Smearing of Our Troops Continues

The AP can't have Bush scoring any political points from the extermination of Zarqawi so they have taken to finding people who claim that US forces may or may not have beaten a man who who may or may not have been the terrorist:

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.

You got that? American troops were beating a man who had a beard like al-Zarqawi. Who in hell doesn't have a beard like al-Zarqawi?

The AP continues citing impeccable sources:

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.

The AP builds a story based on the ramblings of a man who lived near where al-Zarqawi was liquidated--which to me means it is probably a Sunni area and the support for al-Zarqawi was probably high--in an area of the world where indulging a story is not just normal but a way of life. If his account could not be "independently verified", why run the story?

Well, that last question is simple, to smear the American troops and attempt to lessen the impact of this operation.

Disgusting, yet par for the course for the AP.

Sister Toldja and Powerline have more.

Update: Talk Left says:

Does an anonymous report mean a beating happened? No, but the AP is not the National Enquirer and it doens't (sic) print bald accusations. Think about it. Pumped up soldiers on a fresh bombing scene realize they've captured the bronze alive (Osama being the gold and Saddam the silver) -- what do you think they did, read him his Miranda rights or give him a few little jubilant stomps?

Emphasis mine. If this is not a "bald accusation" than what is?