Now read that part again carefully:
LTC West did NOT say that he knew it was wrong, he said he knew he'd get in trouble.
That's just not the same thing.
I personally think West practiced admirable restraint in not discharging his sidearm through the Iraqi's earlobe.
That's exactly my point, and shows that West "gets it". He understood that good order and discipline required that some action be taken against him, even if he did the right thing. I have enormous respect for that. He's not calling himself a hero, and he never argued or asserted that the army should just ignore what he did. And he certainly never suggested he should get a medal, as some folks here have. He did what needed to be done, and he understood that something needed to be done by the Army as an institution as well. He properly fought back when the proposed sanction was too severe. Good for him.