Semper Fi

Here we go again.

The US Marine Corps has publicly upbraided one of its generals for his comments describing shooting people in Iraq as "fun".

Discussing fighting in Iraq, the General said he liked brawling and enjoyed shooting people.

The Marine Corps said Lt Gen James Mattis had been "counselled" concerning his remarks, made during a panel discussion in California.

The general had agreed he should have chosen his words more carefully.

Leave it to the BBC to take the quote out of context. Here's what they say he said:

Caught on tape, he said: "Actually, it's quite a lot of fun to fight; you know, it's a hell of a hoot. I like brawling; it's fun to shoot some people."

In the context of Afghanistan, he said men who slapped around women for not wearing a veil had no manhood and it was fun to shoot them.

For one thing, it appears that the BBC editors rearranged his quote, and took it somewhat out of context. Even so, my only reservations about General Mattis' comments are that he wasn't smart enough not to make the statements. War is an unpleasant business, but I see no problem with our military enjoying their task: doling out justice to terrorist thugs.

Even so, he should have expected this kind of fallout from such comments. Should he have said it? No. Should he feel guilty about the sentiments? I don't think so. Should the BBC and other foreign news agencies be ashamed of themselves for taking his words out of context and using it to defame the United States? Of course.