You know, this really should be shocking news. Sad to say, at this point, it will likely barely make a ripple.

Sent by Angsty | 8:33 PM ET | 09-04-2007

Our troops have been in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, and all you have to report are 22 cases of U.S. troops killing local citizens while falsely believing they were within the law? How would you like to be in their shoes when making life or death decisions in split seconds? How easy is to criticize when one does not have to confront the enemy and death 24 7; yup just like Monday morning quarterbacking. No killing under any circumstance can be morally justified, but we must be proud of the exemplary behavior of our troops, especially considering they are not facing a regular army but a lot of criminals. One can only wonder why the liberal media (and probably 75% of the world) places so "much more" emphasis on news aimed at tarnishing the U.S image than, for example, the killing and beheading of so many (yes, much, much more than 22 cases) innocent hostages by brutal murderers, or the mass murders committed by suicide bombers, all hidden behind their anachronism and extremist religious beliefs that allow murder (including old people, women and children) in the name of Ala. Is it not enough that 75% of the world hate us, why are there so many US citizens (including the media) expressing so much hate towards their own country. Could it be that we are the freest nation in the world with the least imperfect democracy, and "freedom of speech" guaranteed by the rule of law? I should think so. Let's thank our troops for fighting to preserve our freedom and all of our most cherished social, moral and ethical values, certainly a role model for the rest of the world.

God Bless America

Sent by Guillermo Oliver | 11:16 PM ET | 09-04-2007

there are thousands of soldiers over there that are right out of high school. many of them are arrogant and ignorant, i can't tell you how many guys in my graduating class would brag about how they are enlisting to go kill "sand n******" over in iraq. this blog doesn't surprise me at all.

Sent by joe k. | 11:47 PM ET | 09-04-2007

"In one case, AP reports, lawyers for a soldier argued that 'the rules of engagement are clear and in favor of soldiers, contending that the perception of hostility merits deadly action."

This comment echoes the position of Cheney with his policy of attacking with limited intelligence.

This situation is the result of having a killer angel in the white house. Of course, moral ambiguity is frequently the case in military interaction with civilians. But to claim an absolute right to murder is wrong. And to defend with this argument that soldiers who murder is also wrong. Aren't there echoes of the My Lai atrocity in Vietnam here? Have we so supported our troops that a few--who are aberrations--think they can murder?

Sent by julia ann | 4:31 AM ET | 09-05-2007

Have any of you been in combat? Have you had IED devices explode within feet of you? Do you walk through society as a civilian now, and when you see a trash bag, you stop to think and calculate how far around it you should walk as not to set it off. A common item used for IED's.

Y0u want to blame murder..Then start at the top. However, war is hell, and once launched there is no guarantee for anyones safety. As far as the comment of the person who has friends in High School wanting to join the Military so they can go over to Iraq to kill sand-N******, A man in High School is still a boy. He will speak out his un educated ass to impress any feline in the area. BELIEVE me, if one of these males join the Military, their comments will change the first second in Boot Camp.

So civilians, stay civilians and within your own Realm. oOnt assume a damn thing about our Military and their actions if you havenever served. Your freedom is provided by us! Those who come back alive have more skeletons in their own closets and they have received their death sentence for the killing of any one. If we didn't fight with rules, as our enemy doesn't, we would of been done over there and not still playing in the sandbox. Rules of Engagement. Its called Kill or Be Killed!!!! But of course those followers of the man upstairs read a bible which states eye for n eye tooth for a tooth. Hmm I wonder if that was suppose to mean, eye doctors and dentists working together towards a better smile and CLEARER VISION.

Let the land Officers and Sergeants fight the war, the ones who are trained. Not politicians back in Washington who cant even go to a restroom with out a scandel! TO all my sister and brothers in ARMS over there. Rest assure you are not forgotten and with speed I wish you a safe journey home as I had.
Peace
SANDBLASTER

Sent by Tim | 8:11 AM ET | 09-05-2007

Waving the bloody flag, a phrase coined after the Civil War, won't help this situation except to get drops of blood on all of us, which is probably apt. Even if only one civilian is murdered, that is too much. If we condone 22, how about 200?

If we use the logic that only those who have served can know what is going on on the battlefied, then how can the civilian leaders, president and vice president say anything since they never served, although they seem to love men in uniform now that they are old and white haired.

My brother served twice during the Vietnam War. His name is not on that wall, but he has never recovered, and he has never been treated for the night terrors, nightmares, and sleep walking. He lives his daily life and eats his daily bread with a large knot of anger inside. My father did not want him to enlist--he was 18--I can still see him with his new uniform and his red hair shaved, freckles and all. All that innocence. And now I have a nephew, 18 years old, blond hair shaved, freckles (not this brother's child though), who is ready to go. What will he be like if he comes back?

More innocent blood.

Let us all support our troops--but not blindly. The essence of democracy is dissent. Dissent and discussion and then decision.

We are all Americans and want the best for our troops and our country. But don't want them to come home ladened with the memories of what they did over there, do we? Murder will out.

Sent by julia ann | 9:40 AM ET | 09-05-2007

It is true that those who have never served can never gain the perspective of former soldiers. However, that doesn't mean that we have no say in how our country is represented during wartime. Following the laws of war is crucial to our own safety and the safety of our soldiers. What we do will indeed be visited upon us in the future. Our tolerance of torture for "enemy combatants" will return to us as other countries' willingness to torture our own prisoners of war.

What is especially troubling about this article is that the soldiers seemed to think that what they were doing was legal. It is one thing to break the law during war because of the exigencies of war; it is quite another to believe that it is ever legal to murder civilians.

The blame should not only be on the shoulders of the soldiers involved, agreed -- our leaders should have learned the lessons of guerilla warfare long ago; it is never as easy as shooting the other guy in the enemy's uniform. But instead of excusing our collective actions in war as a consequence of the horrific violence of war, shouldn't we question the whole enterprise? Why did we go to war? Why did we think extreme violence would solve this particular problem? Why do we think that invading another people's country would result in anything but urban guerilla warfare? And if this style of warfare is impossible to pursue with honor and according to international law, maybe we should just stop.

Whose freedom are we preserving, anyway? Were the Iraqis or Afgans threatening the laws protecting civil liberties in the United States? Was there an imminent threat of invasion?

I hold soldiers in respect and esteem for their dedication to my personal safety and the preservation of my freedom to live in America unmolested by outsiders. But I don't think war is the solution to the problems we are facing right now. Perhaps that is why the war zone is so confusing.

Sent by Concerned CITIZEN of the United States | 12:06 PM ET | 09-05-2007