The Uniform

Sometimes, we need to be reminded of the obvious (from Blogcritics)[*1] :

First, a military uniform was not created to give something for thewoman to ogle (though it is certainly effective at that). A uniform isa public statement to the enemy that you can shoot the person wearingit. Plain and simple, a military uniform is a full-body bull’s-eye. Whywould any government want their soldiers to wear them then? Simple. Itlet’s both sides easily figure out who the civilians are so they don’tengage them. When the terrorists don’t wear uniforms, they might beable to seek out another kill or two, but they also put their owncivilian population at risk, because it becomes impossible to tell whois a combatant and who is not.

. . .

So those who wish to sit in judgment over the Marines at Haditha(before the investigation is even completed, mind you) manage to put onthe blinders and refuse to consider how the actions of the terroristsalmost guarantee these events will happen. If these Marines did snapand break the laws of war, they will be tried and punished. It is ashame, however, that no one seems to stand up for the soldiers who haveto put up with an enemy who consistently breaks those laws. It’s anational disgrace that some in the U.S. will stand up for the actionsof those terrorists as legitimate.