"What exactly did U.S. military aircraft attack in the western Iraqi desert in the early morning of May 19, 2004?" asks Jefferson Morley. "If you read the U.S. press, that question is the subject of legitimate dispute and official investigation. If you read the overseas online media, you will find little doubt that the U.S. forces, deliberately or accidentally, perpetrated a 'massacre' near the village of Qaim that killed up to 45 people, including many women and children. The difference in coverage of the May 19 attack illuminates a key difference in the way news organizations reach definitive judgments on matters of fact. U.S.-based news organizations, much more than their overseas counterparts, are willing to take statements from U.S. officials at face value. Overseas journalists are more likely to put faith in the accounts of Iraqi eyewitnesses and local officials."