1. And it doesn't help the tone of this thread when you indulge in name-calling. (Charley Noble)

Seems Charley that name calling is perfectly permissible as long as those being called names are those of the US armed forces – You did not seem to object early on in this thread when mud was being slung at them – typical populist Mudcat double standard.

2. Talking about people being thick Lox?? It is not me making the bloody idiotic comparisons between the London Blitz during the Second World War and a street patrol operation in Baghdad in July 2007.

3. Your truth Lox is that whatever action the US forces takes is automatically wrong. On this particular thread the usual fellow travelers just jumped in, ignoring the reports and the evidence and started ranting away about "bloodthirsty scumbags" (your words not mine)

4. By all means let us point out the fucking obvious:
a) A group of armed men were observed congregating at a street corner in an area that was being patrolled by two groups of US forces.
b) None of the men were in uniform.
c) There were no US or official Iraqi Army or Police units in that location.
d) The movements of this group were reported and evaluated as a group of insurgents in the process of setting up an ambush and as such they presented a legitimate target to the Officer controlling both helicopters.

5. Please tell us Lox what were the "whole range of options available to" the helicopter pilots, or more importantly their controller.

6. "You're backing him up because it could just as easily be your son at the controls."

Oh no Lox, I am backing up the decisions made by both the controller and the pilots because it could just as easily be my son that is about to walk into the ambush that this crowd was setting. And I would far rather watch gun camera footage of these insurgents being killed, than watch Reuter's coverage of my son being killed.

7. As to where people were driving to and from and why Lox, let me point out another thing that is patently fuckin obvious if you bother to watch the full video coverage. What were traffic conditions like in the area Lox? Would you describe the flow of traffic as being – A. Heavy; B Moderate; C Light; D NON-EXISTENT. The van was driven up to evacuate wounded, collect bodies and pick up weapons, that van was driven by someone who had seen exactly what had occurred. That the driver of the van had no idea what had opened fire on the insurgents is obvious, otherwise he would not have acted as he did.

8. Don T from Camberwick Green draws my attention to the "Geneva Convention", unfortunately our enemies, formerly in Iraq and currently in Afghanistan, have no intention at all of adhering to those Conventions, no guerrilla force ever does. Now in Don's world the referee hands out "Yellow Cards" and tells the opposition not to be naughty boys and to "play fair". By and large in combating insurgents the stipulations of the Geneva Conventions are observed when and wherever possible, The "Rules Of Engagement" that my son and his colleagues are subject to would astound you Don T (I doubt very much if you are aware their nature and extent - you are too bloody busy jumping to ill-informed conclusions, whilst ignoring the evidence on the ground. They are however Conventions they are not hard and fast rules and for them to work both sides in any conflict have to follow them. Those Conventions Don are under constant review and change to meet circumstances.