Michael Yon has a post up regarding General Petraeus' recent letter to the troops. In that letter, the General speaks about the recent survey on ethics in war, and the need for our troops to remain morally above the enemy.

Among the insights that Michael has, gained from his own experiences in Iraq:

"This letter from General Petraeus deserves the widest possible dissemination. It should be published widely, and posted on every headquarters wall, and read aloud by every troop in Iraq and Afghanistan. We can pummel al Qaeda and other terrorists mercilessly and grind them into the dirt, but we cannot afford to turn local populations against us while we do it."

I always find the concept of "ethics in wartime" to be somewhat dubious; you can't judge actions in war by the standard of every day societal mores. It's the reason I have such a problem with troops being placed on trial because they reacted in a way judged to be incorrect in hindsight. But I have to give credit where credit is due. General Petraeus here makes a pretty strong statement about not losing what makes our troops ideologically a world apart from the enemy, and that's to be commended.

Read Michael Yon's "Values Message"

Labels: General Petraeus, Iraq, Michael Yon