Well, I went over to the sewer of American left political thought to see if Kos was happy to see Nick Berg -- a mercenary according to Kos' worldview -- dead.

It turns out Kos isn't happy Berg is dead -- a definite improvement. Maybe the uproar over his "screw them" comment has taught him a lesson.

However, it should come as no surprise who Kos blames for Berg's murder: President George W. Bush and the neocons. (Sounds like a great band name.)

Most on the right see these cowardly kidnappings and the murder of civilians like Berg as evidence that the United States nees to redouble our efforts to wipe out the Islamofascists.

Those on the left see it as evidence that America is evil and we got what is coming to us.

The lesson is that not finishing the job in Afghanistan and invading Iraq with no good rationale gave Al Qaida and similar groups time to catch their breath, reorganize, and direct their efforts against a conveniently near target -- Iraq. This is the neocon "flypaper" theory in all its glory. It's working. The neocons WANTED it this way.

And they got it. Congratulations.

And in the process, the killing of thousands of innocent men, women and children by errant American bombs, artillery shells, mortars, and bullets have swelled the recruiting offices of every militia and terrorist organization in the Mideast, in and out of Iraq. Congrats with that as well. You can't have flypaper if you don't have an enemy shooting at you. So we energized our existing enemies and gave rise to new ones who didn't seem to understand that "collateral damage" is acceptable in war.

When exactly is it we gave Al Qaeda time to relax? We've had troops in Afghanistan ever since Nov. 2001. Osama bin Laden is either hiding in some cave or is splattered on some cave.

New enemies? In Iraq? The ones fighting Americans in Iraq fall into two categories:

First, radical Islamists who hate America anyway.

Second, members of Saddam's Baath Party who hate America anyway.

I'm also curious how Kos knows that Al Qaeda is meeting its recruiting goals. I've heard no empirical evidence or reports that the offices are "swelling." Maybe he is just making it up.

And the abuse of Iraqi prisoners -- up to 90 percent of which could be innocent according to the Red Cross -- just added fuel to the fire.

Only 90 percent. How does the Red Cross know this? Did they ask the prisoners: "Are you innocent." And they replied: "Yes." Are the 10 percent who are presumably guilty admitting it, or did the Red Cross just not talk to them?

So no, the prison abuse didn't cause Berg's horrific murder. Bush's (inept) War, in all its glory, did. The Neocon agenda, in all its folly, did. The war cheerleaders now trying to use this for propaganda purposes, in all their idiocy, did.

Congrats. Your war spirals ever out of control. Good luck trying to wash the blood out of your hands.

Nope, don't blame the Islamofascists. Don't blame the terrorists. They're just innocent victims of American imperialism.

Just how out of whack does your brain have to be to ignore the guy holding the blood-stained knife in one hand and the severed head in the other?