Originally posted by Ganthrol
In regards to the prison fiasco....orders were issued. It's the duty of the lower ranks to obey the orders of a higher rank. Those of the lower rank are to assume that the order is a legal one, for it's the responsibility of the one issuing the order to ensure it's legal.

I think the person(s) who issued the order should be on trial, not those who carried the order out. This argument goes back as far as the courts hearing the case about Hitler's men.
I don't know how it is in the American army, but in the Israeli army there is a term called "illegal order", which basically means the lower ranked soldiers are OUGHT TO disobey an order that is completely unacceptable by any human being.

Battle Morals is another important term when we're dealing in a war between a Western country and a third world country/terrorists/etc. In order to maintain our humanism we ought to play the war differently than our enemy. Yes, our enemy will kill innocent civilians - but we won't. Our enemy will use unconventional weapons - but we won't. In the bottom line, in order for us to differ from the terrorists and the reigns of terror, we must be civilized and attempt to battle only those who will hurt us, attempt to hurt us, or have had that thought pass in his head.

Living in a country that has never known peace is not easy. Horrible things happen everyday. Innocent people from both sides die every day. Family and friends find themselves entangled in this blood bath. And what can we do? The only thing we can do is continue to live and try not to turn into beasts (that's surely not an easy task).

While I wouldn't go as far as accusing the soldiers for what happened (for the reasons Aristotle mentioned above), perhaps it is time for them to look at themselves and reflect on what they have become - beasts. From my experience, people who turned into beasts during wartime, have stayed like this long long after the war, and have failed to find their place in society, no matter how bright they were.

In my opinion, it's in the USA's best interest to avoid having soldiers do such things - for the soldiers sake. Even in a country they are hated for just being Americans, and when they fear for their life every second, they must stay humans.