I saw the preview over at Noah S' Danger Room.

The two things that struck me in the 24 minutes of preview:

1) the contrast between the footage in D.C. and the footage of the Marines fighting to secure the population
2) the lack of USG civilians and GIRoA security forces (there were some ANA - I did not see any USG civilians.

I think I'll have to see the whoe thing.

It seemed to me they were geared up appropriately. It may be worth considering what message it might send if they took more than the one casualty they did, and what effect that might have on the Marines themselves - before, during and after. Its hard to tell where one event left off and another ocurred given what you can do with film.

While the ammount of fire recorded may have indicated only a few enemy, it may be wrong to assume that is all there were. I've been in a few fights where it started slow and then more showed up, and I've been in a few where it started intense than everyone seemed to decided they had other things to do.

Just hard to tell, and the footage may not tell the whole story.

On the leader side, it looks like the Echo leaders from team leader up were doing the right things as best they could given the conditions

I do look forward to the Frontine piece though, it seems to be well done judging the preview. The clip that sticks out is the one where it looks likeeither an RPG or a light mortar hit the berm and left the dirt cloud hanging in the air while still in contact and a few Marines sorting their selves out. ANother is the contact that put the camera man and the reporter on the ground. Both remind me of the struggle you go through when you are reacting to contact and have responsibilities.

Best, Rob