from the times: "...American military officials seemed to relish the opportunity on Monday to claim credit for dealing the fighters a punishing blow.

'They got whacked, and won't try that again,' a senior military official in Washington said. The Pentagon insisted the body count was accurate."

are they really saying what i think they're saying? that killing 54 people is a good thing?

for the moment, let's not even deal with the fact that the "54 insurgents" estimate may actually be more accurately put as "ten or so civilians." can we just take a moment and think about the level of callousness that allows an "official in Washington" to celebrate these deaths? or the level of myopia that allows that same official to believe that such killings will be a "lesson" rather than fuel for the insurgents' fire?

ugh.