WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A senior State Department official on Tuesday played down tough criticism by Iraq's prime minister over the Haditha incident, saying "I wouldn't make too much out of" the remarks.
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The State Department's Iraq coordinator, James Jeffrey, said he believed U.S. forces were well-respected in Iraq and Maliki's outburst was to be expected.
"It's a defense mechanism. ... I wouldn't make too much out of it," he said of Maliki's criticism. "There is a constant buzz in Iraq of what our troops did or didn't do," Jeffrey told a group of defense writers.
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Jeffrey also said he did not believe the impact of the incident could be compared to the scandal over abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, in which shocking pictures were published worldwide.
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