Execution

Aha. Ken MacLeod manages to say the thing I couldn't find words for when I heard this well-known news item.

In Baghdad a few days ago a prominent Sunni politician was the victim of an 'execution-style' slaying by a group of masked Shi'ite militiamen working within the Iraqi security forces. A mobile-phone camera video circulating on the Internet shows him responding with some dignity to sectarian taunts, before death cuts short his final prayer. It is to be hoped that the execution of Saddam Hussein helps to bring such sadly common events to an end.

This reminds me of the words of the mighty Phil Agre.

Because the fighting is all on television, the fine details of the fighting become political matters. Soldiers complain bitterly about politicians' interference, not understanding that technology has eliminated their zone of professional autonomy. The politicians are right to be interfering.