Warnography, Part 2.

Remember this? Access to free porn in exchange for pictures of eviscerated Iraqis, an offer so hideous that I'm still lost for words. Via Juan Cole's Informed Comment we now learn that Christopher Michael Wilson, the American operator of the site, has been arrested on obscenity charges, although these are apparently unconnected to the war photos. It's too early to say anything with any certainty, but I can't help wondering if the fact that revelations about the site's existence were more than a little embarrassing for the US government who've made so much of their humanitarian intentions in Iraq was a motivating factor behind the arrest. Then again, maybe it genuinely is unconnected.

Reuters' report of the arrest is cursory, but one line particularly caught my attention:

The Pentagon has said it found no evidence any of the photos were posted by soldiers.

Eh? What? I'm sorry, but how many people who haven't served in Iraq have pictures of Iraqi civilians with their brains blown out down the back of their sofa? If the photos didn't come from soldiers where the fuck did they originate? Are we to believe that Zarqawi, tiring of the puritanical lifestyle associated with Islamic fundamentalism, has taken to tossing himself off to images of infidel women in exchange for photos he collected to use in anti-American propaganda? Give me a fucking break.