The politically suspect International Red Cross again tries to tarnish the reputation of the United States military but the military is too busy building a reputation for kindness with the strongest stuff:

The worst case Staff Sgt. Robert Trahan has seen at his medical clinic since being here has been a gunshot wound to the stomach which resulted in evisceration. After the patient arrived in Trahan's Troop Medical Clinic (TMC), he was stabilized and bandaged up. Currently, the man is in the intensive care unit, but he is stable. This medical maneuver is an accomplishment for the staff, but this was no ordinary patient.

This man was an insurgent.

"Everyone has their rules of engagement, and the health care profession of the Army is no different," said Trahan, the clinic's noncommissioned officer in charge with Charlie Med, 199th Forward Support Battalion of the 256th Brigade Combat Team. "Whatever happens out there doesn't matter, once the Soldier or insurgent hits our door, they become our patient. It's our job to care for them and do everything possible to save their life."

In the spring of 2002, when a wave of Yasser Arafat's merciless intifada claimed the lives of scores of innocent Israelis and foolish Palestinians, I was struck by an observation made on television: murder-bombers whose payload had failed to detonate completely, not killing but maiming them, were rushed to hospitals where Israeli doctors would fight to save their lives. It was standard practice, whereas Jews who might so much as take a wrong turn in Arafat's territories could expect to be beaten or killed.

An argument of moral equivalence between combatants is most easily scythed by presenting an example of each side in question given the opportunity for extending mercy to an incontestibly helpless enemy. The now widely publicized slide show tour through Fallujah's blood cult clubs is more than is necessary to remind us that American soldiers will always give better than they get.