The recent news of the atrocity of the US Marines execution of Iraqi civilians in Haditha makes this Memorial Day more mournful. From what little I've read, I can understand the cycle of violence that makes executioners out of normal human beings. My heart goes out to the soldiers and their families who have to bear the memories and consequences of their actions; of course, I pray for the victims as well. I have less sympathy for the officers who initially covered up the atrocity.

As I have spoken before, I regularly check the blog tcrnews2.com -- Traditional Catholic Reflections. It regularly helps me in keeping both the big picture in mind as a Christian, not defined by America, but by the Christian tradition. Yet it also keeps me recognizing that we are called to be in the world by helpful links to various current issues of the day. I encourage everyone to drop by the site daily.

What brings this to mind is a link to a Znet commentary that was posted there (http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=67&ItemID=10325). As we remember, the US legitimated the attack on Iraq because of a change in US defense policy towards preemptive war. As Peter Dyer reminds us:

"One of the most pernicious consequences of the invasion of Iraq is that in the United States it is now apparently accepted virtually without challenge that aggressive war is a legitimate tool of American foreign policy.

I have seen nothing in the mainstream American media discussion of the pros and cons of a “preemptive” assault on Iran by the United States which deals with the possibility that this may be illegal or even morally wrong. So far this is simply not part of the debate."

What does this have to do with the atrocity in Haditha? The Marines actions there could be described not as retributive, but as "preemptive." By killing the civilians after the death of their leader, they were "taking out" the possiblity of future attack. Yet whereas we are shocked by the individual behavior of the Marines -- and rightly so -- we need to see that the whole Iraq invasion and occupation is based on the same reasoning -- the line between preventative/retributive war looks very shaky.

The whole Iraq war is a moral atrocity. No Christian can legitimate it on Just War terms without so radically revising it, that it renders reason unreasonable. The fact that the US has a policy that is directly contrary to a central Christian moral teaching makes it difficult, if not impossible, to have any allegiance to this overall polity. This is not just about the Bush regime; as Dyer reminds us, the United States population and all political groups have basically adopted this position.

How we respond to such a situation, we need the virtues of courage, prudence, faith, and hope. Yet it gives us more for reflection and prayer when the society around us observes "Memorial Day" to remind us again, that we don't belong here. As our reading said yesterday, we are not of the world, through we are sent into the world. May God grant us wisdom.