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Yours is an excellent post. But I must respectfully disagree with one fundamental point.

"It does not mean that IF (big IF) any rules of enagement were violated, etc. that those responsible will not have to bear the legal consquences."

I strongly disagree with this seemingly quite reasonable assertion. And let me explain why.

Violations of the rules of engagement can be prosecuted only if this can be done discreetly within the military justice system and in a way that does not undermine the larger war effort. This was the case in WWII. It was not the case in the Vietnam War, witness the Mei Li incident referenced previously on this thread.

Let me state clearly the moral dilemma we face. As citizens we must choose between the following two evils:

Prosecute vigorously and publicly all violations of the rules of engagement even if this means undermining fatally the overall war effort.
Suppress violations of the rules of engagement to avoid undermining the larger war effort even if this means violators of the ROE go unpunished.

We chose option 1 in Vietnam and ultimately lost the war. The aftermath of that defeat was the death of millions of innocents at the hands of the communists and the repression of millions more.

The Abu Graib incident proves that if option 1 is chosen in this war odds are we will suffer the same fate.

Life presents us with difficult choices. This is one. But I believe America is worth defending. And make no mistake. The islamists want to kill us all. For me, this one is easy. I chose option 2.

I do agree with you that option #2 is the appropriate way to prosecute the war on Islamo-fascist terrorists. However, in our media culture I don't think there's any possibility that we can successfully follow that route. I would not like to see ANYONE on our side held to some legalistic approach to ROEs and UCMJ while they are battling the most depraved and ruthless forces in the world today. Unfortunately, the lawyers and the media and the politicians will not allow reason to prevail in these matters - the prefer the narcissistic moralism of pretending that they are superior to all, as when Murtha recently smeared every WWII airman with his offhand condemnation of US aerial bombardments in that era.