By William Kristol:

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 011, Issue 37 – 6/12/2006 – U.S. MARINES are under investigation for alleged misconduct in the deaths of Iraqi civilians. The inquiry into the events at Haditha last November 19 is ongoing–but the Nation’s editors already know what happened: A U.S. “war crime”! A military “massacre”! A “cover-up”! (And also a “willful, targeted brutality designed to send a message to Iraqis”–something a cover-up would seem to make more difficult.) The anti-American left can barely be bothered to conceal its glee.

As for the pro-American left, they write more in sorrow than in anger. Here’s The New Republic’s Peter Beinart:

Americans can be as barbaric as anyone. What makes us an exceptional nation with the capacity to lead and inspire the world is our very recognition of that fact. We are capable of Hadithas and My Lais, so is everyone. But few societies are capable of acknowledging what happened, bringing the killers to justice, and instituting changes that make it less likely to happen again. That’s how we show we are different from the jihadists. We don’t just assert it. We prove it. That’s the liberal version of American exceptionalism, and it’s what we need right now in response to this horror.

No, it isn’t. The last thing we need in response to Haditha is hand-wringing liberalism. The war against the jihadists, a war Beinart supports, is not a metaphorical one. Liberals may want to win a war on terror without fighting, and are shocked that in a war, crimes and abuses occur. But here’s the hard, Trumanesque truth: In war, terrible things happen, including crimes and abuses and cover-ups …

Mr. Kristol is right about one thing: In war, terrible things happen … That’s exactly the problem. War, by definition, under the best circumstances and the best leadership, always unleashes a terrible monster. War is never “clean and easy;” war is never “under control.” War is always messy and out of control and war always exacts a terrible price, usually upon those who least deserve it.

That’s why we must — we must! — use extraordinary caution before going to war in the first place. What may be gained by going to war rarely outweighs its costs: unintended consequences, unforeseen suffering, the terrible price paid by noncombatants, the terrible price paid by the land itself, and the damage done to a nation’s ideals … because in war, terrible things happen, including crimes and abuses and cover-ups.

We did not use extraordinary caution before going to war in Iraq. We looked for ways to justify what had already been planned. We did not go to war in Iraq reluctantly, but eagerly. That is the problem. That was the mistake.

When you go to war, things like the massacre at Haditha happen. The problem isn’t “bad soldiers” or “soldiers under too much stress.” The problem is war itself. Its risks and its costs are simply too great, too grave, to be overlooked and ignored in the decision-making equation.

What happened at Haditha is a terrible human tragedy. We must bear the blame and take the responsibility, because we, we the people, we the people to whom the government of the United States is accountable, sent the Marines there. This tragedy is simply a sign of what war brings, of what we knew war would bring. It proves the point, and there will be those who will shout out: “I told you so!”

But not with glee …