Didn't appear to have been made "for kicks," greg, though it's certainly possible that the killers were enjoying themselves. But just because it's an American corpse this time doesn't make it any more outrageous to me than what happens to Iraqis there every day. I've seen more than enough American "snuff movies" over the last year where the soldiers were taking obvious pleasure in murder. On CNN, even.
DonMeixner: Americans and other high-paid westerners going to Iraq to "rebuild the infrastructure," drive trucks, etc., (and their employers, of course, whose profiteering has been widely documented) are there to make large amounts of cash. They're selling their services for many times the price that an Iraqi would be paid, and so are making unreasonable profits from the war. And perhaps unlike in Afghanistan, there are more than enough qualified natives. Just my opinion, of course, but I'd say that makes them profiteers.