Exodus was a police, not military, operation

The distinction may seem elementary, but it will be critical in sorting out the complexities and tangled issues in the Mamasapano incident and its aftermath.

Regardless of our stupefaction over the shortcomings of the Senate inquiry, let us keep in mind that there is a huge difference between these two forms of violent action by a government. Great questions of law have been fought over this distinction between police and military action during the last century.