A shovel

We wondered about this:

[An] ... inquiry involves seven U.S. Marines and a sailor in the death of an Iraqi civilian near Baghdad in April. It is believed the man was dragged from his home and shot before an AK-47 and a shovel were placed next to his body to make it look like he was an insurgent.

What's the deal with the shovel? We hadn't seen the explanation until The Observer cleared it up:

It is a practice that [Garrett] Reppenhagen, [a former U.S. sniper] who is now a senior member of peace group Iraq Veterans Against the War, said had happened before. "We have members who can tell you about carrying shovels in their vehicles to throw down next to killed civilians as 'proof' that they were planting IEDs [improvised explosive devices]," he said.

So some of our troops apparently consider possession of a shovel cause for summary execution.