But We're the Bad Guys

Doubtless you've heard about, if not actually seen, the video of an American Marine shooting a wounded (?) Iraqi (?) insurgent in a mosque, and you've drawn the logical conclusion that all Americans are evil hegemonic ghouls with oil instead of blood.

I apologize in advance if this story conflicts with that worldview. Read at your own discretion. It looks like the insurgent "government" in Fallujah was pretty nasty.

And on a very related note, Dave tips me to what I would have seen on Ace, except that I haven't been to Ace yet, so I'm linking Dave, who links Ace (who I assume links someone else). Iran has been helping the insurgents. Surprised? If so, you haven't been paying attention.

Having thus laid the groundwork, let me embark upon my scaly screed (scaly because I am a crocodile, of course).

Anyone who finds the actions of that Marine in Iraq to be offensive against Islam is also making the following connections: Authentic Muslims use mosques as bases of operation to shoot people and store weapons. Authentic Muslims shoot women who are not covered head to toe while in public. Authentic Muslims see no problem with killing Iraqis and leaving their bodies to decompose in the streets. Authentic Muslims boobytrap the bodies of other Muslims in order to kill people.

If you reject those propositions, then you must also reject the conclusion that the Marine in question shot an authentic Muslim. One cannot logically feel any sense of outrage that an insurgent was killed and also deny that Islam is a violent religion, because the insurgent was committing violence in the name of his religion. So either he was not a true Muslim (and therefore there is no place for outrage), or else Islam is a religion of violence. You make your choice, and of course you choose based on your fundamental reaction to this news story.

Update: Reader Supernatural Rabbit Scribe wants to know what difference it makes whether he was a Muslim or not. The answer is here.