Well, there were a couple trials by court martial and an investigative commission with published results. So we know that the company had three platoons in action that day and only one--Calley's--committed crimes. We know that the company commander gave all his subordinates the same orders at the same time prior to the operation, but only one--Calley--led his men in massacring civilians. Besides all the testimony, its pretty clear from those circumstances alone that the problem was with Calley and his platoon, not with the entire organization.
Again, the company commander, IMO was negligent in his duty & should have been court-martialed for that. It was clear, based on the sound of firing and the situation reports plus the body count & # of weapons captured and the lack of calls for fire support that there was a major diconnect in the normal patterns of either a battle against a fighting enemy or else just a routine search of a civilian village. And later, similar incongruities in reports should have been spotted as they went up the chain of command. The failure to do so is in essence why Major General Koster was eventually relieved and demoted.
Having said that, there is a HUGE difference between not spotting a report that should have cued some questions or an investigation to uncover a crime versus the actions of Serb senior leadership in planning & coordinating the commission of a crime.
There is actual footage of the crimes being committed. Some of Calley's soldiers, true heroes, actually refused his orders. One US helicopter pilot risked his own life when he placed his chopper between the soliders and the civilians to stop the massacre.
To claim that Calley was responsible for all the deaths, is too far fetrched if for an apologist. Somone had to kill 300 or more civilians (children included), and it wasn't just Calley. Afterwards, cover-up was reeking. The entire platoon was awarded war decorations after the massacre, and the official Army bulletin reported the incident as a "victory."
Calleys' boss, Cpt. Medina, got off on a technicality, but the brass knew what happened, and then they tried to cover up.
Yes, My Lai was an isolated incident. Thank God. It was tried, half-a$$, and a scapegoat was found guilty and then let go. There was no justice done. But that's another matter.
Agree. The only thing missing is proof. The star witness of questionable moral caliber first denied, then spilled his beans, then retracted his testimony on this subject. The others who were convicted were either low ranking pions or general staff offciers who denied such charges.
If you can prove your allegations, you need to be in the Hague instead of wasting your time on FR.