A 2 bit analysis

The problem with a war such as the one in iraq is that it lends itself to excuses. There are no trenches and no flags.

Those who support such a war point out that the enemy frequently uses civilians as shields, disguises themselves as civilians, and starts firefights in urban areas. If american troops kill civilians while engaged in combat with iraqi irregulars, that is unfortunate, but understandable. One can tactically criticize them, accusing them of being wreckless, not even trying to avoid civilian casualties, and so on, but at the end of the day, they were fighting to preserve their own lives against an enemy that was certainly trying to take them.

What is completely inexcusable, and a war crime beyond all doubt, is the murder of civilians. Murders are defined as killing persons who are not a threat. When people are rounded up and killed, systematically or in an act of wanton violence, it is a war crime. Trying to confuse the first set of circumstances with the second is a trick used by dishonest reactionaries to mask crimes. Contrast that with radical leftists, who condemn soldiers roundly, regardless of circumstances.

I believe this experience has been... instructive. After this misadventure, the options will be scaled back to indirect support, and the US will suffer a prestige hit.