Good piece,unfortunately there has been at least ONE horrendous REAL atrocity in this war, and we all know it is the one that involved raping the 14 year old girl, and killing the family, then burning up the residence. No one has really denied doing it, and they were all brought to justice one way or another. The story, ironically, is almost a mirror image of what just happened in suburban Connecticut to a family of two daughters, wife and father, perpetrated by two paroled or freed former prisoners.
Lets not forget, also, that the loud and repeated broadcast of that one atrocity was later used as an excuse by our enemy for the kidnapping and murder of 2 (iirc) of our soldiers from a checkpoint.
There was zero value or reason for the press to make a field day out of that one. There was no hint of cover up, no denial of wrong doing by the command. It was simple, brazen outing of an issue known to be valuable to our enemy for purposes of propaganda.
Yes, and the perps were caught, tried and convicted. There are criminals in all walks of life. In this case, we caught them and dealt with them.
Bringing it up at every opportunity does nothing but hurt the morale of our troops and works to undermine what little popular support for the war that's left in this country. Why mention that event in the context of this story? Are you trying to undermine support for the war? Are you trying to hurt the morale of our troops? Are you trying to portray the typical American soldier as a murdering rapist?