NATO has picked off 33 (the figure seems to be down to 27) in Afghanistan and wounded another 12.
It is normal, among the disintegrated were four women and a child, all looking like Taliban insurgents that were scary to look at, even from a high altitude and with all the technology for the recognition from the air of things and people that today's armies have it was impossible to guess whether they were carrying a flute or a kalaka in their hands.
These are things of war, wars are like that. It is very likely that we will not know the name of any of the protagonists of this little mistake for the collection of executions "just in case", there will be no long debates, we will not know their names, these dead have already expired.
Nor will anyone claim to know the names of any of these peacemakers of malpractice who took part in the extermination. There will be no trial, not even a misdemeanour trial, because it was unintentional.
But rest assured that Stanley McChrystal, the good chief of the shrimp troops, has expressed his deepest regrets and has already read out the primer to the troops so that they do not leave the "kill that which moves" light on again, and he has told them so with these moving words that contain a sincere tribute to the dead:
"I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their confidence in our mission."
