In Sader City incident, media misconceptions inflamed passions. The sense of outrage in the crowd was palpable as they marched through the streets of Sader city last week, hoping to show their support for Al Hawza and Ahl-el Beyt last week. But at least some of that anger may have been unwarranted. One week after the Sader City banner incident, leaders at al-Sader Martyr's office have admitted that in fact no one was killed either during the incident or in the clashes that followed. Media misconceptions, and unchecked facts helped feed a whirlwind that brought half of Sader City out on the streets last Friday and left many chanting "We Want No American Soldier in Our City."
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That fact, however, hasn't eased relations between either side. A full apology for the incident was issued a day later, but a group Sader City community leaders who met the Americans has refused to accept the apology and made even further demands. [<Iraq Today]
I suspect the Iraqis don't understand how big a deal that apology is. It's practically unheard of for the government to apologize to its victims--it's much more common for the government to kill someone and then insist that he deserved it. At best they'll make some statement about "mistakes were made." I don't know whose idea it was to apologize, but whoever it was was going way beyond what American citizens could expect in order to keep the Iraqis happy.
2:09:21 PM 
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