But, in my unqualified position, I would say that your example of Hasan is ludicrous and I would have notified MPs and my chain of command of his erratic remarks. This is what we are ordered to do.
If my Captain ordered me to shoot three people in combat for any reason they would be hamburger 1.6 seconds later. There is no room for questioning command orders in combat. BTW, there is no distinction between ‘civilians’ and ‘combatants’ in Iraq. They are one and the same.
I can only speak from a soldier's point of view. As far as the legalities, that is not my MOS.
Check your feedtray, that’s the usual cause of malfunctions. And don’t do that Rambo thing of draping ammo belts over your shoulder, gets dirty and can cause jamming.
Do those things and a daily cleaning and you will be squared away.
Of course, the Hasan example is ludicrous, purposely so. But there are orders, and then there are orders. As a soldier, you cannot rely on the ‘following orders’ defense if the order was illegal to begin with. And, THANK YOU for your service!