Last night I posted the good news that December marked the first month since the start of the Iraq war that no U.S. service members died in hostile actions. I hope that is the start of a new trend, but given the recent developments of a judge dismissing all charges against Blackwater, I can’t be too optimistic:

Iraqis seeking justice for 17 people shot dead at a Baghdad intersection responded with bitterness and outrage Friday at a U.S. judge’s decision to throw out a case against a Blackwater security team accused in the killings.

The Iraqi government vowed to pursue the case, which became a source of contention between the U.S. and the Iraqi government. Many Iraqis also held up the judge’s decision as proof of what they’d long believed: U.S. security contractors were above the law.

“There is no justice,” said Bura Sadoun Ismael, who was wounded by two bullets and shrapnel during the shooting. “I expected the American court would side with the Blackwater security guards who committed a massacre in Nisoor Square.”

The Blackwater decision is the exact kind of fuel needed for extremists to rise. If Iraq starts to descend too much again, it will present a big problem for our exit and even for Afghanistan. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail in Iraq, but if history is any indicator then I doubt it will.