Killing children is not acceptable in any war by any country that I know of. A soldier in Iraq is given explicit instructions to shoot on site anyone emplacing IEDs. Many journalists are filming portions of fights and leaving out pertinent information. For instance, i saw video of U.S. marines firing on a wounded Iraqi in the middle of the street. It wasn't until later that I saw the entire piece where the Iraqi was firing an RPG on a U.S. military vehicle only moments earlier. I saw an interview with an Alaskan soldier that while fighting against Iraqi's firing rocket propelled grenades a young boy ran out and stooped down and picked up the killed Iraqi's weapon and was shot. He was sent by his uncle. That is a tough choice for the soldier to be in and I feel sorry for both.

Many are innocent civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time, many are innocent children not knowing the results of their actions. In many instances, the parents that send these children out to be 'weapons gatherers' and military scouts are the most guilty. At times, soldiers are too panicky to take the time to truly 'access the situation' too.

There are of course mentally disturbed soldiers that either started out with problems or developed them over time in combat. Those crimes are separate and need to be dealt with accordingly. It happens saddly in all wars past and present.

None of these negate the truly horrific effect. I'm just saying it is not black and white and the U.S. nor the U.S. soldier as a whole are intentionally harming anyone, especially children.