Thunder... The kids are the part that is the ace in the hole for the media (well lets say it, anit-war people as well), everyone (myself included) would never want to hurt or see a child hurt... Why didn't the media talk about the other 12 or so that were shot down? But yet, they added the 2 children, to pull at your heart strings.
I would bet, if the gunners and people that were in charge knew there was a child in that van the clear to shoot orders would have never been asked for or given (the gunner was hurt with the news, IMO, you could tell by the pilot's voice as well)... Look at the video and see how far they zoomed to that section of the kids, there would be no way in hell for anyone to know they were there, even on foot at 25m it would have been hard to see them, when fighting, heart pumping 200x a minute, tunnel vision, bullets flying at you and so on. There is just no way you can look over every inch of a battlefield, it's just impossible. But it sure would be allot easier looking for someone in a battledress of the country your fighting instead of wondering if the next person in a white head dress will cut your head off or blow you/themselves up, when they pass by you.
I feel for those guys over there fighting, all of "our" allied, really I do. It hurts to kill someone, but hurts 2x as hard wondering if that person you killed should have been.
Roshan... The action of that soldier is what dose happen, they care very much for those kids.