He said what...?

The quote reproduced on the front page of this newspaper is, if anything, worse when placed in its context:

L/Cpl Nicholas Federici, 19, of 1/8 Marines, said: "We didn't get the job done. Now we're going back in to finish it. It's the same with the whole of Iraq. Either we do it, or our friends and younger brothers will come after us to do it.

"Now, we're going in full force. The main thing is to hold our ground and kill as many faggots and bastards as we can. Then we'll rebuild the city, keep our military forces in and hand things over to the Iraqi government."

"Either we do it, or our friends and younger brothers will come after us" to kill "faggots and bastards". No illusions about it all being over by Christmas, then. It's the long, slow haul to a "faggot and bastard" free Iraq.

Meanwhile, in a Trevor Philips moment,

The gyms on base are full of marines pumping iron. On a board in one there is a quotation from Malcolm X: "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."

The irony, and the sheer chutzpah of this leave me nearly speechless.