All excellent points and questions, chaplain. I’d never say that our serviceman and woman can do no wrong, but I’ll admit to shading in that direction, and would certainly not second-guess them in a combat situation.
In a case like this, I just have to hope that the jury will be fair and will err on the side of compassion.
If I were Lt Behenna’s attorney, and it was absolutely crystal clear that Behenna was right about an extremely dangerous insurgent who would be sure to kill more Americans, how would I defend Behenna.
First, you’d have to find a way to show how bad the insurgent was.
Next, I don’t know what you could do other than try to get some kind of jury nullification? You couldn’t go after justifiable homicide, could you? You’d have to go over the head of the rules.