ESSENTIAL READING FROM FALLUJA

Have you read "Open Letter to Devil Dogs of the 3.1" by combat photographer Kevin Sites? It's his eye-witness account of what happened nine days ago in the Falluja mosque where he videotaped a U.S. Marine shooting and killing a wounded, unarmed Iraqi prisoner.

Explaining his motives to the Marines he was with during the battle of Falluja, he writes:

It's time [for] you to have the facts from me, in my own words, about what I saw -- without imposing on that Marine -- guilt or innocence or anything in between. I want you to read my account and make up your own minds about whether you think what I did was right or wrong. All the other armchair analysts don't mean a damn to me.

Sites posted his lengthy, gripping, detailed account on Sunday in his personal weblog. Shocked that he's been "painted as some kind of anti-war activist" because of what he captured on camera, Sites points out that he has never been "a 'gotcha' reporter -- hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it."

No one, especially someone like me who has lived in a war zone with you, would deny that a solider or Marine could legitimately err on the side of caution under those circumstances. War is about killing your enemy before he kills you. ...

But observing all of this as an experienced war reporter who always bore in mind the dark perils of this conflict, even knowing the possibilities of mitigating circumstances -- it appeared to me very plainly that something was not right.

Sites wrestles with his conscience. He tells the Marines that "making sure you know the basis for my choices after the incident is as important to me as knowing how the incident went down. I did not in any way feel like I had captured some kind of 'prize' video. In fact, I was heartsick."

His conclusion is worth chiseling in stone. Go read it.