Iraq civilian killings scandal 'worse than Abu Ghraib'

The deaths of as many as two dozen Iraqi civilians and an ensuing cover-up threaten to do more harm to US efforts in Iraq than even the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, a prominent congressman and war critic says.

“This is the kind of war you have to win the hearts and minds of the people,” Congressman John Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said yesterday. “And we’re set back every time something like this happens. This is worse than Abu Ghraib.”