I see there are supposed to be two inquiries - one into the alleged massacre, and the other into the cover-up. That at least could be a step forward from My Lai, where all the attention was on the people who carried out the massacre, and not on the support structure that colluded in it, and on the question of whether that collusion reflected a military culture (that word again...) which encouraged and facilitated this kind of atrocity.

There is a previous thread on the alleged Haditha massacxre (BS: Iman shames the U.S military?. One of the issues that come up is the exitence of some indications that there is a prevalant, and apparently approved, policy that when roadside bombs are involved US troops are expected to carry out reprisals on Iraqis in nearby houses.