This is indeed what I am talking about. There was no cowardice displayed by these guys. There was no brutality. The insurgents were responsible for those deaths by trapping the families in their homes, and then initiating contact from those same houses.

There was no cover up. The incident was investigated, and the Commanding Officer found no misconduct on the part of his Marines. There was a second investigation performed by a different command, which came to the same conclusion. Only after the insurgent linked "investigator" released the insurgencies side of the story to the press did it suddenly become a political football for the higher echelons.

As for your last paragraph, there has ALWAYS been collateral damage, unintended deaths, and friendly fire incidence performed by ALL militaries, EVER.

How has it suddenly become a tarnish for the American military. Heck, if we really wanted to, we could easily follow the Russian model in Chechneya of surrounding villages and towns, shelling the fuck out of everyone there, fire bombing the joint, then rolling in and shooting anyone still alive. But we don't do that. We truly do try to eliminate civilian deaths. Unfortunatly, sometimes we are placed into a predicament where the unintended happens.

You never hear about that though, do ya? Nope, just the overbloated, incompetent, American military slaughtering innocents.<---- Said tongue in cheek, I am not proving your point.