What possible positive spin can you put on it other than it shows that America does in fact prosecute soldiers guilty of crimes committed while in uniform?

What little reading I have done tells me that most if not all, of those killed were civilians.  There was also recent enemy activity in the area.  If I remember correctly, Calley's platoon had been ambushed in that vicinity just a few weeks prior to the massacre and suffered quite a few casualties.  I think one the reasons for the shootings were that the villagers either knew about enemy locations or supported the VC, which made them just as culpable as the VC themselves.  I also think that the platoon was given a very vague op-order and were given to believe that the AO was a free-fire zone.  That does not excuse the massacre, but it goes far to explain why it happened.I can sympathize with the platoon but not excuse their actions.  It is understandable why they did it.  At the same time, murder on that scale, is almost incomprehensible to someone who has not had the exact same experiences as the members of that platoon.  I think what they did was unconscionable but not inexplicable.

Can you give us a little more background.  I assume you are referring to an incident that happened in Algeria?Not too many people in the States know much about the French experience in Algeria.  I have only read one book about it and I have studied military history for over twenty years.  there is just not much English language scholarship on the Algerian War, there probably should be though.Update:  I see now, it is something like what happened to Lidice.

Update:  I see now, it is something like what happened to Lidice.

Right, such as many places during WWII

The Algeria war brought many controversies,  so what do you want to know ?

Personally, I don't want to know anything about the Algerian war I don't already know.  It was a classic nasty little war like many other insurgencies throughout the last century.  It is hard to distinguish when the insurgents are Mao's little fish.  Believe me, I know from experience that sometimes innocents die, especially in an insurgency.  I would hesitate to pass judgment on any commander who faced what the French did in Algeria.  If anything, they showed remarkable restraint given conditions there.The Germans are not the only ones to try and use the Partisan activity justifies reprisals rationale.  The Russians did it in '44 and the French used it in Algeria just like Calley tried to do at his trial.  The main difference, like so often in any war, is who the eventual winners are.  Victory does tend to justify just about anything.  If "Bomber" Harris had been German he would have been on trial at Nuremberg, it just so happens he was British and so instead of being a war criminal he is the mastermind of a strategy that helped shorten the war.  It all depends on which color glasses you wear.

German president visits France WWII massacre site (Oradour)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23958458