PISSGATE: Rep. Allen West on the reaction to the Marines incident: “Shut your mouth; war is hell.”

UPDATE: Brian Dunn writes:

I think West has it right. What the Marines did was wrong–and possibly a symptom of problems in unit leadership–but let’s keep some perspective as punishment is weighed.

But a bigger question is how do we handle all the video footage we have of the battlefields when what is normal in war can be scrutinized by someone far away in space and time who is looking for crimes to punish? I asked this question 7 years ago and still have no answer. The Greatest Generation’s reputation wouldn’t have withstood this level of scrutiny for their conduct on the battlefields of Good War II.

Certainly not.