But human rights activists say that for all the focus on the atrocities, the American response to the mass graves has been slow, disorganized and inadequate. In particular, key evidence for any possible criminal trials already has been destroyed.
"It's rather shocking, in fact, the investment ... of very, very little into this area -- not only of the mass graves but everything the mass graves represent," said Joe Stork of Human Rights Watch.
This mass grave yielded more than 3,100 bodies in May when relatives swarmed the site with shovels in a desperate search for their loved ones. More than 2,100 were identified through clothing or ID cards and taken away by families for burial.
Now, about 900 unidentified bodies have been reburied in neat rows, each grave marked with a plastic bag containing the belongings found on the body. Although understandable, experts say, the families' digging has all but destroyed any chance of accurately identifying all the victims or ever using the grave as evidence in court against those who committed the massacre.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-iraq-mass-graves,0,4921436.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines