Charlie Hebdo Massacre Reduced to a Footnote

Last night's horrifying bloodbath in Paris reminds us yet again of the urgency of a change in Western policy in the Middle East. Until and unless that happens - and it can't happen unless an aroused and informed public makes it happen - more massacres are inevitable.

ISIS has taken responsibility - proudly - for the attacks that killed well over a hundred people out for Friday night fun, and promised more and worse to come. Before we get swept up in jingoist hysteria, let us recall that ISIS is not self-begotten, but emerged from the murderous chaos that followed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Recall as well that the U.N.'s Humanitarian Coordinator Denis Halliday accused the U.S. of genocide in Iraq BEFORE that invasion as a result of the crippling sanctions imposed after the 1991 Gulf War. In other words, the West's systematic destruction of Iraq for the past generation has given birth to a terrorist movement dedicated to killing as many Westerners as possible. Hideous? Yes. Surprising? No.

Not a single leader on the American scene has offered an intelligent policy response. Self-righteous posturing and vows of revenge are the order of the day. These have not had happy consequences in the past.