De mortuis nil nisi bonum

Unless, apparently, you're speaking of slain journalist/blogger Steven Vincent, who some speculate may have been killed because of his relationship with his translator.

Juan Cole:

These sentiments and this sort of behavior tend to be rural and to hold among the uneducated, but are not unknown in urban areas. Vincent did not know anything serious about Middle Eastern culture and was aggressive about criticizing what he could see of it on the surface, and if he was behaving in the way the Telegraph article describes, he was acting in an extremely dangerous manner.

Well that's OK, then. And Cole's not the only one who feels that Vincent got what he deserved. Check out some of the comments to this post by Jane Perrone on the Guardian blog. A couple of snippets should suffice:

If you put yourself in harms way in a very unstable and dangerous country, can you then complain if you are killed or injured. People who go the front line must expect this. he was a naive American. They are many around. They feel that they make a difference. they feel they can change the world. In reality they cannot. That is just cowboy diplomacy of the US. Not everything American does abroad is right. Not every American abroad is right. Lets face reality. Yes today we wonder about Steve Vincent. Tomorrow he just becomes a static of war. The world will move on without him. He seemsed to have no purpose in life. People who are serious about their life will not be in Iraq. There are better things to do. And better places to be
Posted by dimitri on August 5, 2005 01:49 PM.

...

This was not a empathic writer. If you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, even in a war zone, you can expect to get killed. I don't know how old Steve but he seemed to have achieved little in life. He is actually more famous dead than alive. No one heard of him before.
Posted by hamid on August 5, 2005 02:14 PM.

...

Obviously sad Vincent was killed.

But his writing was pompous, one sided and irritatibgly sub-Hemingway. The great White American Male is here to save you tender young Arab woman from the horrible Arab man.

All Americans are Gary Coopers propaganda- dangerous and prejuidiced propaganda.
Posted by Gus Sanger on August 5, 2005 03:27 PM.