REST vs SOA or HTTP vs SOAP?

There has been a huge amount of controversy over the whole REST vs SOA debate which seems to have settled down to the conclusion that REST is base for outside the firewall and SOA inside (whilst I realise this would be violently disputed by both camps it seems to be what is happening). I have to say I really struggle with the REST vs SOA debate. To me there are two arguments here: HTTP PUT / GET vs SOAP and REST vs SOA.

I am puzzled by the HTTP vs SOAP arguments because actually you can do much the same things with either mechanism; after all they are just messaging systems. HTTP is better in some areas that SOAP and vice versa.

I am puzzled also by the REST vs SOA arguments because, if you look at Fieldings original paper and don’t get bogged down in the SOAP stuff but look at the architectural level they seem to be to be saying much the same thing.

Actually I like both Fieldings paper at an architectural level and the whole of the SOA premise. I don’t really know enough about SOAP and HTTP formats to comment and I am not sure it’s terribly relevant anyway. I do like this paper though https://www.intertwingly.net/stories/2002/07/20/restSoap.html .

Maybe I am just too thick to get the point of all this learned discourse.