Doug - of course I wasn't accusing you of grabbing on to this crime to get Bush off the hook. I do however think that this is one of the results it can be expected to have, though the expression I'd use would be "takemnthenheat off him." The front pages which have had pictures of atrocities or alleged atrocities by the USA and UK are today dominated by pictures of this killing.

And I am sure that there would be spin-doctors working for the US Government and military who saw this as a kind of "good news" for them. That's how such people think when they are in a crises. Rememeber the British government official whose reaction to 911 was "this is a good day to bury bad news" - though in fcat she was foolish enough to put this thought on record, and it destroyed her career.

And I'm reminded of the recorded fact that when Churchill heard about Peral Harbour his reaction was a sort of grim rejoicing: "No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy."