Willy Pete

Hunter, at Daily Kos, has an excellent post on Willy Pete. Here's a good part:

And I know it is true, there is some confusion over whether the United States was a signatory to the Do Not Melt The Skin Off Of Children part of the Geneva conventions, and whether or not that means we are permitted to melt the skin off of children, or merely are silent on the whole issue of melting the skin off of children.

But all that aside, there are very good reasons, even in a time of war, not to melt the skin off of children.

• First, because the insurgency will inevitably be hardened by tales of American forces melting the skin off of children.

• Second, because the civilian population will harbor considerable resentment towards Americans for melting the skin off of their children.

• Third, BECAUSE IT FUCKING MELTS THE SKIN OFF OF CHILDREN.

And, unless Saddam Hussein had a brigade or two consisting of six year olds, we can presume that children, like perhaps nine tenths or more of their immediate families, are civilians. These are, admittedly, nuanced points.

Warning: Biologists, particularly those involved in medical research, are pretty desensitized to some pretty gross things: it's perfectly natural for many of us to discuss urinary tract infections while eating lunch. Nonetheless, there's a picture there that is truly horrific. Consider yourself forewarned.