Destroying the American Military

In case you are in a bubble and didn't realize we were in a war, there was a massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha with 24 dead at the hands of U.S. Marines. (Tangentially related, Paul Hackett, a Marine Iraqi veteran and candidate against Jean Schmidt and former Ohio Senatorial candidate, is defending a slighly related Marine in the incident's investigation. This incident describes in catastrophe how the war has been conducted. A U.S. Marine is killed in a roadside bombing and in retaliation, U.S. Marines go on a rampage killing 24 people. The reasons lie, predominantly in the overstretching of the U.S. military and the complete lack of planning (and plans) for the conduct of the (unnecessary) war. When there is no plan and a shortage of troops for adequate rotation, frustrations (with the military and the Iraqis) grow. If you keep re-enlisting the same troops (voluntarily or by stop-loss order), they build up a potential to massacre civilians because of the overstimulation and stress of the war zone. Since there is no concrete plan for how to extricate ourselves from Iraq, the frustrations come out of the barrel of the gun. While this is not a defense of the Marines responsible (they should be investigated and prosecuuted), it should alert the American people to the incompetence of the war planning and execution. Our soldiers are exhausted and should be withdrawn, for the sake of our military, our country and the international rule of law.