Iraqi-American Relations

First there were all the weird sado-masochistic sexual overtones to the Abu Ghraib photos. Now comes an even more disheartening story, courtesy of the WashBlade Blog, about a consensual sexual liason between a 21-year-old American soldier and a young Iraqi guardsman gone terribly wrong. A mutual handjob in a watch tower should never end with one of the participants riddled with eleven bullets. But for all the social progress we make, it's going to be a long time before the self-loathing of some confused youth doesn't erupt in violence.