“Let us not become the evil we deplore”, warned Cong. Barbara Lee when she cast the lone vote against going to war in Afghanistan in September 2001. Well, it’s time to look in the mirror-and it’s not a pretty picture.

Just contemplate these two incidents, one that took place in Iraq in 2007 and has now gone viral on the internet, the other that took place in Gardaz, Afghanistan in February 2010.

Baghdad: U.S. aerial shooters chuckle as they let loose a torrent of bullets, killing over a dozen people, including two Reuters staff. Then they unleash another round on an Iraqi who-passing by in his van-tries to help the wounded. When the American soldiers discover they have hit two children in the van, they can be heard snorting, “It’s their fault for bringing their kids into a battle.”

No one-from those who pulled the triggers to those who gave the okay-has been punished for the murder of these innocents. That’s because this blatant disregard for human life falls within the rules of engagement. And the only reason the incident came to light is thanks to Reuters for its persistence and to Wikileaks for procuring the footage and putting on their site.

Gardez, Afghanistan: US Special Operations forces surround a home where a party is taking place for the birth of a grandson. Two men come out to see why they are being surrounded. They are shot dead. The US soldiers later report they found three women inside the house, gagged and murdered by their own relatives.

The Times of London later reports that the women were killed by the American soldiers. Not only that. To hide the murder, the soldiers dug bullets out of the women’s bodies and washed the wounds with alcohol to hide the evidence. One of the women was a pregnant mother of 10; another was a pregnant mother of six; the third was a teenage girl.

No one has been punished in this incident either. General McChrystal was briefed on the case in March but said nothing about it. The murders only came to light because the Times reporter Jerome Starkey visited the family and talked to Afghan investigators.