Blogger's Tightrope

The Berg execution, like so many other recent news items, puts us bloggers into a quandry. Granted, it's a much less significant quandry than that faced by practically everyone currently in Iraq--Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, soldiers, marines, Halliburton workers, journalists, etc. They are faced with decisions daily that may cost them their lives, and there aren't any good guidelines for deciding.

Right now I want to condemn the Berg execution while pointing out how it doesn't change the facts of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib or the war in general, all without losing the moral high ground. Many condemned Daily Kos for his brief moment of insensitivity towards the Americans killed in Fallujah last month, and one of my favorite bloggers, Max Sawicky, strongly condemns one of my favorite cartoonists and columnists, Ted Rall, for his insensitivity towards our military because of their insensitivity towards Iraqi prisoners. The moral high ground seems to be nowhere in sight. Comparing atrocities seems to be a losing game, and generally leads to more atrocities. So maybe I'll just drop out of this discussion for a while.

But with one final attempt to find a little high ground: The quickest way to get into a moral morass like this is to start a war. The odds are that Nicholas Berg, hundreds of other Americans, and tens of thousands of Iraqis would still be alive today if not for George W. Bush's need to get his war on.