Haditha

The investigation into Haditha is supposed to end in a few weeks. Until then, THE MARINES ARE NOT GUILTY. They should be presumed innocent like everyone else in America. We don't know if the Marines were fired on, if stray bullets hit some of the civilians accidentally, if they even WERE civilians, or if the civilians were killed by explosion or other gunfire from insurgents. The Marine investigation is set to conclude in a matter of weeks; at that time, we can weigh the evidence and their culpability.

If the investigation does show that the Marines committed murder, then they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If pictures are not necessary to prove their guilt, they should not be publicly released; their release won't affect their sentence, and will only serve to kill more Americans needlessly.

This is an isloated incident, and should be put in the context of the stress of young soldiers in combat, not a pattern of behavior.

This should in no way have any effect on our presence in Iraq.

After all, if a policeman was guilty of killing a suspect or even an innocent civilian, should the entire police force be disbanned because it causes them stress? We need to weigh the need to stay in Iraq SEPARATELY from this horrible, ISOLATED, atrocity.