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Why is 'Buddy Jesus' in Iraq?
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi troops backed by American military advisers arrested a suspected Shiite militiaman Saturday, but a gunbattle at his house left a woman and a girl dead, Iraqi police said.
Afterward, angry men at the scene held up a color photo of a smiling, winking Jesus giving a "thumbs up" that they said was left by troops at the raided house -- an allegation denied by U.S. and Iraqi officials.
The photo, known as the "Buddy Christ," is from the movie "Dogma," a 1999 religious satire in which "Buddy Christ" is part of a church campaign to improve Jesus' image.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said the photo was a ''rather ridiculous attempt'' to discredit the raid. It was unclear how it ended up at the site in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City.
