Where's The Outrage? Somber Iraq and Viet Nam Anniversaries.

Portlanders marked the 5th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War with peaceful protests on Saturday. Sunday March 16, was the 40th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, which became a turning point for public outrage at the continuing Viet Nam war.

On that date in 1968, 11th Brigade, Americal Division entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai. "This is what you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got it," said their superior officers. Including Lt. William Calley (the only officer later punished for the order). 300 unarmed civilians, including women, children, and the elderly were massacred. A 3 man helicopter crew landed and intervened to stop the killing.

When news of the atrocities later emerged, it rocked the military and political establishments and angered an already divided American public--hard to imagine today.

Seymour Hersh, the journalist who exposed the massacre to the American public, sees parallels between My Lai and a more recent story that he reported in 2005, the torture carried out by US forces (and possibly, contractors) at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Hersh says the public outrage fueled by My Lai was far greater. "It's stunning how much impact My Lai had and how little impact Abu Ghraib had," Hersh said. "We'll have to leave it to historians to figure out why."