When you look into the abyss, it also looks into you.

In the cultural memory of war, what's most significant is not necessarily the most important tactical or strategic events, but rather the moments that challenge our belief in humanity and justice. For World War I, it may be the use of poison gas -- remembered brilliantly in the much-anthologized Wilfred Owen poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" -- that sticks in the memory, while for World War II it could be Kamikaze attacks in the Pacific or Auschwitz in Europe, or perhaps the atomic bomb (a strategic development more important to the Cold War than WWII). For Korea, it's M*A*S*H (heh heh).

For Viet Nam, My Lai forever tarred U.S. forces with unchecked slaughter of innocents.

These incidents make us question the fundamental goodness of humanity and the capability we hold within us for cruelty or simple animal savagery. The point, often, of military discipline is to restrain, control, and direct the violence necessary in combat, to instill some mechanism that can counteract or override the outraged emotions and adrenaline frenzy that accompanies battlefield encounters.

Despite all that, war remains, as Sherman said, hell. It should not be approached glibly, as our current President did, offering catchphrases like "smoke him out" and "bring it on," as if he were some poor man's Dirty Harry in a made-for-tv movie.

As Americans, we want to believe that our cause is just (unfortunately it became clear some time ago that BushCo invaded Iraq on false pretenses). Failing that, we at least want to have recourse to a belief that our troops -- who are after all the sons and daughters from across the USA -- behave nobly and with justice toward both the enemy and civilians. We want to believe that the military chain of command would never condone or countenance acts like My Lai or Haditha. Which makes statements like the following so terribly disgusting:

Lt. Lawton King, a Camp Pendleton spokesman, declined to comment Monday, but another Marine there reflected on the damage the reports have done.
Nicholas Grey, a second lieutenant in the Marine Reserves based at Camp Pendleton, said the case will result in a loss of credibility for the Marines and increase Iraqi anger.
"It will make it a lot harder for the Marines who want to go through the streets," he said.

Apparently, murdering 24 civilians in cold blood isn't really the problem...it's the revelation of it and the case that results that's actually damaging. That alone should make you sick.

Here's a quick clue to planners of future military operations: going around shooting children in their homes should not be considered a useful military tactic. It cannot be covered up. It cannot be contained. Indiscriminately slaughtering whole villages, neighborhoods, or streets will not stop an insurgency, but rather will make it stronger.

Our most enduring images from the Iraq War so far have been images most removed from the idea of victory or nobility: the killings of contractors/humanitarian relief workers/etc by insurgents, Abu Ghraib, and now Haditha.

Is this what we want to become? Haven't we reserved accusations of killing innocents and torturing prisoners for the terrorists? Who wins when we set aside human rights in the name of security?