The article makes some reasonable points, but any attempt to justify the murder of Margaret Hassan as the act of "desparate" individuals is ridiculous. These are simply murderers who have tried execution, found they enjoy it, and are using a hybrid of religion and hate to justify their actions. Bush and Blair have certainly stumbled through the occupation of Iraq like blind men in a mine field, but they had no hand in this particular crime. I am personally sick of the kind of rhetoric coming from both ends of the political spectrum that want to link their political opponents with individuals who are plainly psychotic. Liberal=Terrorist, for example, or Bush has caused the murder of Hassan, for another. Such arguments remind me of the defense attorney's plea for Ted Bundy... his actions were horrible, but they were the direct result of his unhappy childhood, and so hadn't his parents, neighbors, and the elementary school system be put on trial as well?

The problems in Iraq are painted in shades of gray, but some things are clearly, inexcusably wrong. Like Margaret Hassan's murder.