KEVIN SITES RESPONDS TO HIS CRITICS, and has a long post on his blog about the circumstances of the Fallujah shooting incident.

UPDATE: Reader John MacDonald isn’t impressed: “Maybe if Sites went into the houses first, before the Marines, he might have a better idea of what was going on in this Marine’s mind.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: More perspective here: “U.S. forces say they have found nearly 20 houses in the Iraqi city of Fallujah where they believe foreign hostages were tortured and killed — including one with the wire cage where a British hostage begged for his life before being beheaded.”

Guess which story will get more attention.

MORE: Greyhawk at The Mudville Gazette says that Sites deserves respect, and hasn’t done anything wrong.

And some perspective here: “Marines from the 1st Marine Division shot and killed an insurgent who while faking dead opened fire on the marines who were conducting a security and clearing patrol through the streets.”