Back to the dark ages

An angry mob of insurgents attacked a convoy of American contractors last month when they got lost in a town north of Baghdad, killing four and wounding two, the U.S. military said on Sunday.

The Telegraph reported that two of the contractors not killed in the initial attack were dragged alive from their vehicle, which had been badly shot up. They were forced to kneel in the road before being killed.
"Killing one of the men with a rifle round fired into the back of his head, they doused the other with petrol and set him alight," the paper reported.
"Barefoot children, yelping in delight, piled straw on to the screaming man's body to stoke the flames."
The crowd then "dragged their corpses through the street, chanting anti-U.S. slogans," the report said.

This episode reminded me of many similar ones. People, often kids, swarming around burned humvees, two fingers in the air in the victory sign. That these episodes are spontaneous, set up by reporters, or organized by terrorists, it matters little.

What is important is that Iraqis realize that one is either a terrorist or a human being; there is no middle way, as it has become increasingly clear. Self-exclusion from the global community will not lead them anywhere, as the Palestinians have learnt.

Iraq, Terrorism