Losing Hearts and Minds

I meant to link to this yesterday. Making Light has written a piece on the events of Abu Ghraib that says it far better than I ever could.

I've taken down my flags and put them away until after the war is over. I love my flag and my country as much as ever, but I'm mourning actions that have been committed by our troops, under our banner.

This war against Al Queda (and just what did Saddam have to do with Osama?) is as much a war of memes, of values, as it is a war of shooting and blowing things up. The propaganda war is at least as important as the shooting war, and the real battleground is the hearts and minds of ordinary Muslims and Arabs. If American (and sadly, British) troops are going to behave badly and commit these sorts of atrocities, they we're simply not going to win.