Sunday, June 11, 2006

So What Happened?

Given that some early reports say that the Haditha accusations are very bad, what am I to make of the reports that our Marines did nothing wrong?

A sergeant who led a squad of Marines during the incident in Haditha, Iraq, that left as many as 24 civilians dead said his unit did not intentionally target any civilians, followed military rules of engagement and never tried to cover up the shootings, his attorney said.

And see Mudville Gazette for more. (Tip to Instapundit)

It would be nice if this proved to be yet another attempt by the enemy to plant evidence of an atrocity. But keep in mind that in time, such an incident will probably happen. War is fought by fallible people. Small incidents have happened already and we've punished our people involved.

So whether or not the Haditha story is true, it will one day be true. And the need to punish the guilty, support the rest, and win the war will be as important as it seems right now.

We should wait for the official report, it seems.