no excuse.....the ends do not justify the means.
When we address American morality or justice there is no wiggle-room to mediate our responsibilities.
Saddam was a baad man. So what? Stop evoking his administration's atrocities in the hope that it will make our atrocities pale by comparison.
Either we are the good guys, our troops maintain their discipline---or we are just as bad as those we oppose.
Publius