Upstate NY:

Regardless, I can't see how anyone can defend a revenge that is essentially a horrific atrocity, the killing of captive thousands, and the dumping of them into unmarked graves.

That is the key point. 1,500 deaths don't justify allowing another 1,500 deaths in a reprisal a year later. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith