James Mattis, Butcher of Fallujah

Published at 09:10 on 26 December 2016

On first glance, Mattis seems to be an atypically good pick, given the general hideous nature of Trump’s cabinet picks.

Then you get to what I called at the time the Rape of Fallujah, a deliberate attempt on my part to draw parallels between what Japanese fascists did in Nanking during World War II. I wasn’t exaggerating when I coined that phrase; at the time well in excess of 90% of the casualties were civilians. According to Wikipedia, when the dust settled the civilian casualty rate was between 71.5% and 77% of the total casualties.

Guess what? James Mattis was in charge of that operation.

Update: Democracy Now has a piece on the Rape of Fallujah here.

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