Slate's article on this controversy gives pause. Media coverage, particularly the extent of embedded coverage imposed by US authorities in this case, has seemed less than objective from the start; journals and newschannels are too readily typed as for or against. Many seem enchanged by Al-Jazeera as a voice of balance. They are doing a good job, but is it that much better than or in conflict with the BBC or CNN?

It is heartening to read--and should not surprise--that the US military is taking its job seriously. It is not a soldier's place to question the foreign policy decisions that put the conflict in play. Sadly, even if only partially credible, reports of atrocities, cruelty and suffering remind those of us who sit in salons and boardrooms that it is imperative to hold those charged with responsibilities accountable on the most fundamental of terms.

This real war seems awash in too much rhetoric, noise and ignorance.