Billy Budd

The story coming out of Iraq and how the Italian intelligence officer was killed by American forces while protecting his fellow italian, a released hostage, is taking on a familiar pattern.

While the U.S. authorities deny targeting the car out of some sort of retribution for the payment of ransom the other facts are becoming more clearly in line with the version suggested by the Italian Government as opposed to the American one.

It appears that the car was not speeding, it was not ignoring warnings, the Italians did inform the Americans they were coming that way, and the so-called checkpoint was an ad-hoc one the Italians had no knowledge about. The checkpoint was set up to protect John Negroponte who was on his way to some meeting or another. Just another indication that even when he is not tacitly allowing death squads to operate, death follows in Negroponte's wake, even without effort.

I think we all know how this is going to shake out now.

In the next couple weeks, look for the Americans to find themselves some poor schlub 19 or 20 year old infantryman who will be blamed for being too quick on the draw.
The folks constantly beating the drum of "support the troops" will fall into line and put the blame on some poor schmuck kid who is nervous as hell to be there and spends the entire day on guard duty wondering whether somebody is going to try to turn him into hamburger.

No, we cannot blame the leaders who put him there.

No, we cannot blame the leaders who thought Iraq would be a cakewalk.

No, we cannot blame the leaders who wanted to go to war to revenge daddy.

No, we cannot blame the leaders who did not put enough boots on the ground.

No, we cannot blame the leaders who due to poor planning have their own military historian say they lost control by Summer 2003.

No, we cannot do any of that.

Rather, we must buy our refrigerator magnets; condemn dissent in any forms; and buy more magnets saying "Support the Troops". While condemning the poor saps to day after day of fear and misery ... and setting up some poor kid as responsible for the errors of the "greater" people at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it's subsidiaries.