"the truth takes years to come out"

The only reason the truth takes years to come out is because the people whose duty it is to find out the truth collude in suppressing it. This happened on Bloody Sunday - and whatever uncertainty there might be because of the delays and the destroyed evidence, there is no doubt whatsoever that the cover-up took place. And the cost of that cover-up in terms of human suffering was terrible

It need not happen this time. I imagine that it will however - and the cost in terms of human suffering will be terrible.

It's not a question of fixing all the blame on the people who actually pulled the triggers. The people who put them in the situation, and the people who trained them and briefed them, and drew up their "rules of engagement" are in there as well.

Maybe there actually were some people shooting at them, or maybe they just thought there were and had some vision in their head such as mexican painted just now. All kinds of maybes. The authorities have a duty to find out the truth, and quickly, and to resist any attempt at a whitewash. They owe it to the families if the dead, and also to the soldiers involved and to the other soldiers who could well die as a result of this.

No doubt in the wake of this, young Iraqis are lining up to night to join the Iraqi equivalent of the IRA.