A War Crime in Fallujah

On a far less positive note, the New York Times reports that "Human rights experts said Friday that American soldiers might have committed a war crime on Thursday when they sent fleeing Iraqi civilians back into Falluja."

"A stream of refugees, about 300 men, women and children, were detained by American soldiers as they left southern Falluja by car and on foot. The women and children were allowed to proceed. The men were tested for any residues left by the handling of explosives. All tested negative, but they were sent back."

We seem to be getting more and more evidence that we have all but completely lost sight of any humane goal in Iraq. We seem to randomly identify who our friends and foes are and bestow acts of kindness on the former and alternately random and focused acts of violence on the latter. We are not winning hearts and minds, we are not "liberating" the country, as we are the occupiers from which they require liberation, and we continue to sow the seeds, in richly fertilized fields, for a new generation of terrorists.

This has to end.