"Yep - let's beat up America over one incident and ignore why America is there."

some people can't understand plain english. here it is in small words...

we (the"coalition") are supposed to be fighting a "war on terror"... we are supposed to be "the good guys", the "liberators"... we have rules of war and geneva conventions that we signed onto (we were not forced to sign them or tricked into signing them)... we need to observe those rules to maintain any sense of "moral high ground" EVEN WHEN THE OTHER SIDE DOESN'T... because if we don't, then that makes us JUST LIKE THEM and then the TERRORISTS WIN... are you guys with me so far?

we can only control our own actions...we can't make the "terrorists" have trials or fight "fair"...so when our guys break the rules they must be called to account EVEN THO THE OTHER SIDE DOES THINGS JUST AS BAD OR WORSE... because we're the great and powerful land that everyone wants to come to we have to do the RIGHT THING...otherwise we're ACTING JUST LIKE THE BAD GUYS and if we do that, we're not the good guys anymore we're just the guys with more guns.

"I was inferring that there is always a thread or two about how bad we Americans are - but where are the other threads?"

Let's see, how about...terrorism is bad...let's kill everybody in iraq...those who beheaded should be beheaded themselves...what threads are you proposing exactly? and why don't you start them if you feel there's a lacking? what we're talking about are things that are part of our sphere of influence that we might be able to affect. i don't think any islamic terrorists care what we think but other americans and free-thinking moral people might be interested and willing to discuss these issues without trying to end the discussion by calling names like "terrorist sympathisers" and the like.

"Where are the requests that the other side be held to international law..."

since the US refuses to be bound by the international court why would you think any one else should be?