Iraqi civilian as weapons of war

As you no doubt noticed, I took the weekend off blogging and wall-to-wall war coverage to gain a little perspective. However, this photo ran above the fold in Saturday's SF Chronicle and I haven't been able to put it out of my mind. What sort of creatures use children as shields? This regime is peopled by deviants sprung from the depths of some idealogical hell known only to themselves. Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime lack a shred of humanity, their reign of terror must end. Now.

The Marines said they fired after Iraqi soldiers came behind the family car and fired through its windows, killing the wife of Haytham Rahi, a civil servant from the town of Rifa, to the south of the U.S. positions where the shooting occurred.

In the confused situation while the family were treated and loaded onto a helicopter for transport to a U.S. military hospital it was not possible to discover why they were trying to move south toward U.S. tanks parked behind barbed wire.

U.S. commanders allege that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's loyalists have terrorized families and used violence to prevent soldiers surrendering to the invading forces.

"I think they forced that family to come down here," said Captain Rose of the Marines, who thought the civilians were being used to test U.S. defenses.

"We're going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and they're using that against us. It's tragic that they're doing this," he added. (via Reuters)