I also knew that no one could give me an order to commit a war crime, like shooting or torturing a prisoner of war. Only had one incident in three combat tours where a superior tried to tell me to shoot someone (heat of battle)and I told him he could shove it. If I had that training in 1965, and periodically afterwards, you can bet the troops are getting it today.I really appreciate you sharing that perspective.
Do you think the environment could have changed after 9/11? It seems like a number of the soldiers accused of abuse have said they were following orders but not from somebody in their chain of command.
Terrorists are NOT "prisoers of war", as in the accepted definiteion of the term, which has some very specific description, one of which is that they are wearing a uniform.
I think it goes back to the training or quality of training. Is the training being given and then reinforced? I think so in almost all units. There are a small number of cases of abuse and I think the Chain of Command needs to look at that if they haven't already.