In the Milan daily Corriere della Sera, which published similar pictures, columnist Gianni Riotta noted that the attack came during the U.S. presidential election campaign, and that previous U.S. decisions to withdraw troops, in Lebanon and Somalia, have come after particularly bloody attacks.

"If the American public opinion is impressed by the fierce torture of Fallujah and by the endless stream of army dead ... it could force the White House to do a turnaround, hand over governing to the Iraqis, leave some troops based there, and then get out," he wrote.