Paul Bremer promised that the atrocity we saw yesterday will not go unpunished. Unfortunately he combined it with another refusal to look straight at the enemy.

“The acts we have seen (Wednesday) are despicable and inexcusable. They violate the tenets of all religions, including Islam as well as the foundations of civilized society,” an angry Bremer told graduates at Bagdad’s police academy.

“These murders are a painful outrage for us in the coalition but they will not derail the march toward stability and democracy in Iraq,” he said. “Their deaths will not go unpunished.”

And in case you were wondering what happened to the murdered Americans’ bodies:

One witness said some residents took away the two vehicles to an unknown destination and what remained of the bodies were “cut up into pieces, with parts thrown into the river or to the dogs”.

UPDATE: This story says the bodies were recovered by Iraqi police, but I’d wait for confirmation before believing it.

In Fallujah, police retrieved the remains of the four slain Americans on Wednesday night, wrapped them in blankets, and gave them to U.S. forces, said Iraqi police officer Lt. Salah Abdullah.