A typical scene from “liberated” Baghdad.

The feet belong to Jose Padilla, the Chicago gang-banger designated an “enemy combatant” and tortured for the better part of his three and a half year detention; the guys in Imperial Stormtrooper drag are getting ready to haul Padilla to the dentist. Bear in mind that the purpose of the detention was not to protect the public, but to force Padilla to become an informant/agent provocateur.

Here’s the explanation provided for this award-winning photo captured by a Collegiate journalist:

“A member of the Durham Police Department Selective Enforcement Team escorts a child to use the bathroom after serving a search warrant at a suspected drug house. Working closely with the police department’s Gang Units, SET is responsible for making high-risk entries into dwellings to serve search warrants. Gang Unit Two made two controlled buys, or drug purchases, from the home with the help of an informant, giving them probable cause for a search warrant. Even if a raid doesn’t turn up anything, presence and show of force sends a hard message to the neighborhood that gang and drug activity will not be tolerated.”

(Thanks to Andrew Sullivan and Radley Balko for the photos, and to Clyde Wilson of Chronicles for the borrowed title.)