Unmarked Men

For a bloodthirsty Jihadist all bad publicity is good publicity. This is how OSB has stoked the fires of a global Islamic insurgency since 9-11 and the nascent institutions of international civil society have played along nicely.

The murder of American journalist and blogger Steven Vincent in Basra serves as a reminder about what happens to those that reveal the truths that fall outside the basic good against evil, believers against unbelievers media representations.

The unmarked "death car", the white Toyota MK II that he described in the NYT article that cost him his life is a familiar motif for anyone that followed what used to go on in Guatemala during the 80s.

Last month Vincent blogged that "the British are doing a cracker-jack job of teaching Iraqi police cadets close-order drills, proper arrest techniques and pistol marksmanship, without, however, including basic training in democratic principles and a sense of public duty."

Such is the untroubled nature of our national negligence - the familiar tale of the British aspiration to stand above all the hatred in the hope that mellow disinterest will deliver both envy and restraint in the ranks of the fanatics. Yet the disimpassioned approach may simply be surrendering hearts and minds to the turmoil.