I can’t really add any commentary to this story because it speaks for itself and when it speaks it makes me desperately sad and fearful for the future. Anyway, read on–A City in Ruins, Sky Thick with Smoke: ‘Let’s Kick Ass … the American Way’ By Lindsey Hilsum:

‘I guess there are some good people – it’s jus’ that we don’ have nothin’ to do with them,’ mused a marine as he and his colleagues sorted their kit and cleaned their M16 assault rifles. ‘I see the little kids in the cars and I feel sorry for them, but when they turn 16 they’re evil.’

and:

Despite reports of ‘heavy fighting’, the overwhelming majority of the firing has been one way. Twenty four US soldiers have died and more than 200 injured. An unknown number of Iraqi soldiers have also died. But the resistance in Falluja was sporadic. Insurgent leaders probably fled several weeks before the onslaught. The marines will claim this as a major triumph in the war on terror but if the insurgency merely shifts elsewhere, they may find Falluja is an empty victory.