Without weakening either sides POV I believe this all boils down to one fact: if you believe an Iraqi life is equal to an American life then you are outraged at what may have occured at Haditha.

It is true that all the facts are not in. But to jump to conclusions like "the marines were being shot at therefore its a justifiable action to kill two dozen civilians" is absurd. On the other side to automatically condemn these Marines is equally absurd, no doubt the local terrorist propaganda machine works just as well as some believe ours to.

Point blank - There is no logical reason to be there. Forget why we might have gone in, forget Saddam being a bad guy (there are thousands of em); actions like this real or exaggerated throw millions of young Arabs into the terrorist camp. This is a Realist argument, forget moral justifications, it is tactically stupid to stay in Iraq.

Nov 2.