Reaping what we sow

I was glancing over my logs (something that I do only very occasionally) and got a surprise. The most visited post this month is one that I made 12 months ago. It was called Fallujah Massacre? It was a link to a report of US soldiers firing into a crowd of protesters, killing fifteen.

Now fifteen dead Iraqis, in the context of thousands killed during our conquest and occupation, is a drop of blood in the bucket. But as I noted then:

This will not hurt the administration’s position so much here at home, which for whatever reason appears unassailable, but it can toss a lot of people off the fence who are ambivalent about the US occupation, or worse, can push people toward the ethical order of an Islamic state.

Hello, is this thing on?

Fallujah is not an anomaly, it is a manifestation largely of our own mismanagement. Next time, we should remember that “hearts and minds” are not won by treating the enemy (if the people of Iraq are “the enemy”) like animals. When you do, it is likely that this is what they will become.