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Some will, but they will be killed or captured.

But LTC West will get his retirement, he won't be hanged, and he and his lawyer didn't need to go to the media.

His dishonorable actions were small in my eyes when he fired his sidearm, but they have grown immense because of his efforts to save his retirement. If he quietly declined the offer to leave service and faced court martial he would have been dealt with fairly, he didn't trust the system and he has used the media to rally support, dishonorable is the only word I can think of for it.

West did the right thing, because he would have been screwed otherwise. This is a difference of opinion that you and I will not agree on. This is war. Fireing his sidearm past the head of an enemy is nothing. As I said, if he had willingly raped, killed, or looted, fine, hang him. He didn't. He "mistreated" a enemy prisoner. So what. You cannot convince me otherwise. Had the tables been turned and West been captured, he would have been beaten, paraded on TV, and who knows what else...maybe killed. But that doesn't seem to bother anyone.