Making fun of a woman who was disfigured, killing dogs and wearing a child’s skull as a hat have now been classified as “practical jokes” by New Republic editor Franklin Foer:

As the criticism mounts, Foer says he sees an ideological agenda. “A lot of the questions raised by the conservative blogosphere boil down to, would American soldiers be capable of doing things like the things described in the diarist. The practical jokes are exceptionally mild compared to things that have been documented by the U.S. military. Conservative bloggers make a bit of a living denying any bad news that emanates from Iraq.”