[flip]

The more I read this thread the more I'm not sure what position to take.

At first I was totally in favor of lynching those guys in public. The way they acted so nonchalantly about killing people and the fact that they had fun doing it was disturbing. I also don't think, at least based on the video, that they were cautious enough in evaluating the situation before resorting to lethal force.

It is hard too, knowing after the fact that those were civilians that they shot. If I just saw that video with no prior knowledge I'd probably still be pissed off about how they acted and the lack of caution before just opening fire but I wouldn't feel bad if I thought it was insurgents getting killed.

I still think they made a mistake and should be dealt with and possibly punished by the US Army but I do understand the counterpoints made by CC and others that those guys may have genuinely thought they were killing insurgents and actually doing some good. Their callous nature, even though I still find it despicable, could be them just trying to rationalize the horrible acts associated with war. Maybe if they didn't try and take all the humanity out of the situation they would have thought twice about opening fire. Then again, in other situations maybe that would cost them their lives and the lives of others.