OK, we killed his mom, humiliated his dad, detained his brother, and crippled his uncle. But what about those delicious Mars bars! Doesn't that count for something?

I think they annoyance is rooted is something a whole lot simpler. He didn't have the courtesy to stay bought for the price of the mars bar.

i never say no when an armed man offers me candy

Was that the Fresh Air segment with Donovan Campbell? He actually did seem like an exemplary person, but you're right that the takeaway from the interview is that the Iraqis are monstrously ungrateful.

The low point for me was when he claimed we don't torture and Terri didn't challenge him, though he was understandably crying so much that he was essentially untouchable. If she had contradicted him, she'd be fired for being a hippy bully.

Carl: Could well be. It was today. I caught the segment for only 2 minutes in the car, so I have no idea of the context. What struck me was not whether the soldier was a decent guy or a jerk (I couldn't tell) but the incredible cognitive dissonance.

Those guys know tons of stuff about war. But there's one single bit that matters. That any normally constituted human being would get. And they don't get it. That's what's astonishing.

Well, you know, that's the way it is with candy-dispensing liberators, and the attitude comes straight from the top:

‘It’s important to have someone who’s willing to stand up and thank the American people for their sacrifice in liberating Iraq. I don’t expect us to pick a ‘yes’ man. But at least I want someone who will be grateful.”

George W. Bush to Paul Bremer, quoted in My Year in Iraq, Paul Bremer and Malcolm McConnell (2006) at 359.

Sure, you can give them candy. But watching then run for a bottle of water is even more fun.

I'm reminded of that interview with George W. in which he stated that he was concerned with whether the Iraqis were grateful for the US toppling Saddam. Apparently if they're grateful there's less need for us to feel guilty about sundry less agreeable aspects of the occupation, or even think about them.

Perhaps George was suspicious of ALL those Arabs shooting back. Shooting less = more gratitude, surrender and submition = just the bestest gratitudness, WE got ALL the oil = Mission Accomplished. Easy as 1-2-3.

Carl: what was this Campell fellow crying about?

I have a t-shirt that says "World domination goes better with Coke!" This story reminds me of that shirt.-Tony

Achilles wept.

Campbell sounded like the high-minded epitome of a military leader.

He wept real tears at the death of one of his soldiers.

That said, however, He never seems to have doubted, questioned, or criticized the war that killed that kid...