I'm getting mildly irritated at people freaking out about notoriety and 'being forced to sit / park for x hours because I did a bad thing'.
I'll give them this, though: I can blow up Orcas and Belugas full of civvies all day long and, as long as they're mission targets, I won't incur a bit of notoriety. On a ground mission, it's pretty dang difficult to finish it, as far as I can tell from descriptions, so please correct me if I'm wrong, without blowing up a whole lot of non-mission targets.
All of this, of course, could be solved reeeal easy if there was a way to make a non-lethal takedown. You know, the stealthy way. Not that I'm exactly known for being stealthy, but if the only realistic option is to carpet bomb the settlement, it seems a bit harsh to punish people unduly for doing it. Options. They're good. Also, if there are options, I couldn't care less about the people who still choose to carpet bomb a settlement gaining notoriety.
Somebody else pointed it out somewhere, and I do believe that he/she had a point: We've always been able to trade non-lethal weapons. How come WE can't buy any?
If all you give people is a hammer, don't hurt them for thinking everything is a nail.