"The author is out of touch."
?
from the article: "I am proud my son volunteered, and of his two tours in Afghanistan and his mission in Iraq. And he is glad he served his country. I wish all Americans had a gut connection to the troops so they would know that people like my son don't kill civilians and that they anguish over the vicissitudes of war."
Sorry, didn't see that.
I don't think he is correct though.
He is correct. People like his son do not intentionally kill civilians, but in the so called "fog" of battle it all to often does happen.
If you were not in the "fog" with those Marines at Haditha, you will never know or understand what really happened there. If you had been there, you would have felt the blast, smelled its pungent odor. Even though your ears were ringing you would have heard your wounded comrades cry out. You would have heard shooting, but you may not have known from where it was coming, and your platoon leader may have thought the shooting was coming from the houses nearest to you. Your training would have taken over at that time, and you and your squad would have attacked. Suppressing fire would have been put on the houses until your squad was close enough to hurl grenades into the houses, and as soon as the grenades exploded, you and your squad would have rushed inside and shot everything you saw.
If you have attacked the wrong houses, God may forgive you, but you will remember those dead women and children for the rest of your life.
Only God and those who were there in Haditha at the time can judge those Marines, and you can't believe the Iraqis.