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Why would I hit abuse on such a thoughtful post?

I would, however, point out to you that what God commanded people to do in the Old Testament cannot be used to say that it's good to kill innocent women and children without such direction from the Almighty God.

This mindless keyboard commando is not saying that it might just be necessary in war, but saying that a soldier who shoots unarmed women and children, with potentially no military objective is a 'hero.'

I completely agree with you on the restrictive ROE, the excessive deployments and goal-less, point-less 'mission' we now have in Afghanistan. It's a complete mess now.

But I will repeat my main point. This soldier...IF he is guilty....has unnecessarily and unproductively put the rest of our troops in greater danger. He has killed civilians with no military objective, and if he is found guilty, should be punished to the full extent of military law. Our military has always held higher standards than any other in the world's history, and what this soldier (allegedly) did berates the US military and all it stands for.

And anyone here on FR who calls endangering our own troops.....again for no military purpose...... 'heroism' is warped. Completely and utterly warped.

(bighead, only pinging you because I'm talking about you - not because I care to read any more of your messed up, anti-military drivel).

No one will ever know if he is guilty. Unfortunately our government has opened a complaint department for enemy nationals to use against us every time we have entered a war since Korea. This is the end result we see today. It should not endanger our troops anymore than a bomb dropped from a plane. It would not endanger any if they ignored it and didn't allow media into our war zones.

If he had killed his own troops or U.S. civilians either deployed or stateside then yes a Court Martial is in order. This is Afghanistan which is being fought like Iraq, like Nam, like Korea, where the armies hide in amongst the civilians homes and shoot from same. There is but one answer in these cases. Kill them one and all. If he suspected a Sniper in that area and took out what he saw as a target even if brass didn't approve he is a hero in my book. He saved lives.

If the pressures of his fourth deployment became too much and he finally "broke" under combat stress or PTDS Combat Fatigue etc he is still a hero in my book and does not deserve a Court Martial. He deserves help. Several Freepers know the man personally and one served with him on a deployment. I take their word as too his character as being far more credible than a Media Stooge going around the hood digging up dirt doing the enemies work for them.

One thing that does travel at the speed of light is what we called scuttlebutt that can mean a drinking fountain but is usually a term used to described gossip or rumors which travel at the speed of light. Rumors in units and on bases get around fast. Today a service member in Afghanistan can instantly call home, e-mail, or text home or media, almost any time as can a person on a ship at sea. This was not possible in wars before the second Iraq war. The media hears rumors and reports them as fact saying according too an unnamed source close to the White House, Pentagon, unit, or whatever related venue in question.