How did he screw up? Two terrorists are dead and his marines are alive. Is that what you call a screw up? Is that what the mom of 2 marines calls a screwup. Will it make you feel good if your marine sons die in Iraq as long as they were following some "brainless" set of regulations drawn up by some pentagon idiot?
How did he screw up??? He had the two Iraqis in custody so all he had to do was take them in for questioning. Instead, Pantano ordered them uncuffed and that is where the trouble started. He turned a controlled situation into chaos by his decision.