Thought To Be Believed To Be

Keeping track of the farce otherwise known as the Iraq occupation, I was interested in this photo caption accompanying Spencer Platt’s image from Diyala in yesterday’s NYT Pictures of the Day.  Whether or not the qualifiers signify journalistic caution, they also convey just how thoroughly we are operating under a qualified strategy riddled with jumbo-sized assumptions.

As for the shot itself, it almost conveys a Three Stooges quality.  The ally — presumably to protect his safety — has his head cut off, while the (presumed) bad guys come in blindfolded, in a headlock.

Pictures of the Day, Feb. 27 (NYT)

(image: Spencer Platt/Getty.  February 2008.  Diyala Province. nytimes.com)