Mistaken identity shootout in Afghanistan

So there was a shootout in Afghanistan that resulted in a bunch of dead Afghanis with US bulletholes in them. The issue has been in the way the story has been presented.

HuffPo was pretty up-front about what happened:

U.S. Special Forces killed six Afghan police and wounded 13 Wednesday in a case of mistaken identity by both sides after the police fired on the Americans during an operation against an insurgent commander.
A U.S. military statement said police fired on the American forces after the troops battled and killed an armed militant in the city of Qalat, capital of the southern province of Zabul. The Americans returned fire on the police but only later learned their identities. An Afghan civilian was also killed in the exchange.

But several other blogs, such as Big Lizards have taken the Associated Press to task for its presentation of the story.

This is rich. First read AP's headline:

US Special Forces mistakenly kill 6 Afghan police

Next, the beginning of their lede graf:

U.S. Special Forces killed six Afghan police and wounded 13 early Wednesday in a case of mistaken identity...

Finally, here are the complete first two paragraphs:

U.S. Special Forces killed six Afghan police and wounded 13 early Wednesday in a case of mistaken identity by both sides after the police fired on the Americans during an operation against an insurgent commander, officials said.

A U.S. military statement said police fired on the American forces after the troops battled and killed an armed militant in the city of Qalat, the capital of the southern province of Zabul. The Americans returned fire on the police but only later learned their identities. One Afghan civilian was also killed in the exchange.
Anybody reading just the headline (which is all that is shown in some news feeds), or even just the headline plus the beginning of the lede (which might be all that is shown on most other feeds), is bound to come away with the impression -- as I did -- that once again, those vicious, violent, bloodthirsty American soldiers were firing indiscriminately, wildly shooting at anything that moves, and they killed a bunch of innocent victims. Again.
But the reality is that the Americans did not make any mistake: They simply returned fire when fired upon, an action always allowed of any unit in any combat zone... even the Dutch can do that much!

By: Brant