A soldier in Iraq writes to criticize the media's use of "civilians," in describing people in that country. "The 'so-called civilians' are the ones that are killing coalition forces and hindering our efforts to legitimize and stabilize their country," he said. "When I read the paper the headlines made it sound like the citizens you are reporting about are innocent."

Well, certainly many, millians in fact, are innocent bystanders in this war and when the media writes about conditions in the country they are referring to those people. What the GI seems to be perturbed about -- and his frustration is understandable -- is the nature of guerrilla war and sectarian violence wherein the combatant-civilian distinction is blurred. A bomber does his deed and slips back into the "citizenry," and a person slides from "citizen" status to militancy with the right propagandistic urging.

The distinctions are illuminated with those headlines that report so many "insurgents" killed in a coalition attack, along with so many "citizens."

What our message-writing soldier might ask is how many such distinctions are real, and how many are not.