[roughbeast]

There will be no problem if it turns out that Iraqi citizens who died under interrogation, like the hotel receptionist did, were killed legally and under the proper rules of engagement.

It is easy to excuse extreme brutality when troops are fighting for their lives and the lives of their comrades. Indeed troops are sometimes deliberately put into such circumstances to unleash their brutality against the enemy. Brutally kill or be brutally killed. We can even leave a little room for moral error in the heat of battle. However, there is no excuse for mortal violence against prisoners away from the actual battle. This breaks the rules of the Geneva Convention and makes us no better than the SS. Our standards must be of the highest order.