I regret that I don’t take the time every day to check out Michael Yon and his excellent war reporting. The best I’ve yet read from Yon, one of the best written by anyone, involves some American heroes, the extreme restraint reflected in evolving US Military rules of engagement in Iraq, and the dangers of letting irresponsible media “hijack Haditha.”

In light of our ongoing debate on Haditha (and what are often irresponsible journalistic responses), Yon offers some great advice:

In the absence of clear facts, most people know that a rush to judgment serves no one. What word, then, properly characterizes the recent media coverage of Haditha, when analysis stretches beyond shotgun conclusions to actually attributing motive and assigning blame? No rational process supports a statement like: “We don’t know what happened, but we know why it happened and whose fault it is.”

Yon does as great a job with getting to the heart of our efforst in Iraq as anyone writing, and this piece is no exception. Yon quite movingly describes the context into which one might best consider any aberrations like Abu Ghraib or Haditha, if allegations are substantiated. Go read the whole thing.

But I can’t resist teasing you with this sign that Yon uses throughout his piece, to great effect. (Come on, go see.)