On The Scene: Iraqi Forgiveness

(CBS)  CBS News Correspondent John Roberts is with the 1st Marine Division north of an-Nasiriyah where he filed this report.

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It is exactly the type of mistake the U.S. military most wants to avoid, but knows it cannot. A civilian vehicle carrying a family of farmers was attacked by Marines on a road north of an-Nasiriyah.

Three people, the family patriarch and two brothers, were killed, but amazingly in their shock and grief the surviving family members turned to the marines for help.

"He says he knows it was the American military that did this, but he is not angry because Saddam is intentionally sending civilians down this road intentionally for this to happen," said Cpl. Jeff Lindsey, translating.

The victims are burned beyond recognition. The Americans bring body bags, load them on the hood of a humvee and take them to the local village mosque.

Marines know this sort of mistake could lose the battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. Military patrols on hair trigger alert take care to assure they are not targeting non-combatants. Humvees equipped with loudspeakers issue cautions to stay off the roads. But Iraqi military tactics mean Marines often don't know who they are shooting at.

"They send civilian cars at us and those cars shoot at us. They open fire all the time so we don't know who is the enemy and who isn't. So you know, we see a car, it doesn't stop, it acts in a threatening way and we open up on it," the victims say.

At the mosque this young boy helps dig his grandfathers grave. The Marines too put their backs into the grim work.

"It's not a pleasant thing. It's very sad that we did this to these people. It's not easy to dig someone else's grave," said one Marine.

The Iraqis who now freely express their disdain for Saddam proclaim the victims martyrs and say they forgive the tragic error.

"He's saying thank you very much for everything. Thank you for giving us water, food and medical care. Thank you for burying these bodies and helping us transport them back here. Thank you for everything," Lindsey translates again.

The toll on civilians marines say will only get worse. Most of the casualties so far, have been in scarcely populated rural areas. Ahead lie big cities and the marines say the Iraqi government has been collecting and hiding leaflets the U.S. drops telling civilians how to stay safe.