Swopa from Needlenose points out this excellent LA Times article(registration required, try using twotears/bucket) by Rich Connell and Robert J. Lopez. It also includes some interesting maps.
The article covers the action in An Nasiriyah that resulted in the deaths of the Marines we posted about earlier.
The existing theory we had been working under was that the Marines of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade(now known as Charlie Company, thanks to the LAT article) was involved somehow in the attempted rescue of the 507th Maintenance. As the article makes clear, Charlie Company was not attempting to rescue the 507th, but their armored support(i.e. tanks) had been dispatched to help rescue the 507th, and was just returning from that mission, out of fuel, when Charlie Co. was sent into combat. The armor was sent to the rear to refuel just as Charlie Company was preparing to push north.
It's apparent that the men of Charlie Co. fought like cornered rabid wolverines. It's good to see someone in the media taking notice of their bravery and their losses.
There also appears to be at least one and maybe two incidents of friendly fire involving an A-10 Warthog strafing Charlie Co. These things are always tragic for everyone involved, and the only good thing that can come from them is if the military services involved can find out exactly what happened, and do their best to ensure that it never happens again. It will, of course, but maybe less often.
This whole incident is an almost textbook example of how the chaos of war can produce the absolute shittiest situations imaginable to man. The next time someone suggests "let loose the dogs of war", let's try to remember that we are entering into a world where no person can control what will happen. You may win the war, but you will have to send men through battles like the one at An Nasiriyah. So heed the counsel of men that have been there, and remember when they say that it is hell.