[reluctantwarrior]

This is not a crimianl act it is an act of cultural ignorance. Often the dead do not belong to the local community and the locals refuse to deal with the bodies. These troops were disposing of the corpses through burning, I would bet they didn't know that Islam prohibits cremation. Again an act of ignorance and not malice.

[GrandEagle]

Again an act of ignorance and not malice.
I may need to set the record straight here. I think that it was made pretty clear using all my posts on this thread together, but may not have been using any individual one.
I don't know the circumstances surrounding this so called "incident". To me it is doubtful if it transpired as reported. Even if it did, I'm not advocating that we hang the guys how did it.
I would, however, find it unlikely that these guys were unaware of the cultural problems with cremation.
My only point was that if this was true, and it was a deliberate act, and if it is a violation of a legally ratified treaty, then it is a violation of our law. Lots of if's. War is tough, I'm not in favor of scrutinizing every little detail of what a field commander uses to gain victory on the battlefield. There are times that laws are violated, even deliberately, and that violation is necessary. However, much like speeding to get to the hospital, if you get caught, there are consequences. The only reason that there must be consequences is to maintain order. As I'm sure you will agree, we can not allow the military to operate independent of civilian authority.
From a purely win the battle point of view, I could care less if the guys had a BBQ feast using the enemies body. However,the BBQ idea would definitely NOT be wise. The mission seems to be to eliminate the enemy, to help the fledgling democratic process to take root, and to avoid making enemies of the new government. We must consider all aspects of the mission.

I apologize if I cam across as a "lets hang our military" kind of guy. I am FAR from that. I would offer all the "benefit of the doubt", "look the other way", and "leniency if caught" you can imagine.

Cordially,
GE