After watching the video tonight, does anyone else get the impression that the U.S. soldiers at the massacre were (to some degree) enemies to each other. As from my personal knowledge and in the video it was stated how a soldier could be court martialed or shot on sight if they did not follow orders. So if soldiers kill each other (it has happened) instead of the enemy we could conclude that they are enemies to some degree. The helicopter pilot's story related this topic well.

I totally agree with you. As the movie progressed, that is what I was thinking; we were the enemy, not the innocent people in that village. The helicopter pilot who saved that young child should have gotten a medal. He was the true hero. He knew that the American's were the "bad" guys in this horror and tried to help, not hurt.

To some degree i agree with what you are saying, yet something to think about is that in the video and also from having people close to me in the military it is an order and training, a brain washing of the young men who enter into the military to be killers. So once the men are put into battle the training kicks in to do not to think, the men do not seem to be trained to think about the out come of their actions but to follow and obey the orders of the officers above them. What i am saying is that maybe it is the training of the young men that we should be looking at not the actions?????

Yeah, we were definitely the enemy in this instance. Not only were we the enemy, but I feel we were cold blooded murderers.
I think strict adherence to following orders, in the military, is necessary to a point. However, when the "rules of engagement" are disregarded, as the case was, don't those authorities and therefore their orders become null and void?
I still don't buy it that anyone ordered rape and mutilation and if they did it was no authority higher than a field commander.

I forgot to sign in. Sorry.

It is very possible that many of the men were "just following orders" or may have gotten caught up in the moment or that their training did in fact "just kick in", but I seriously doubt that raping young girls and women is any where in the military code of conduct or a part of their training. When the rapes and the mass murders, the lining up of people in the ditch, began, the men who were there had to know what they were doing was wrong and when they continued or sat by and watched they all condemned themselves on the spot.

The soldiers were given orders, and the helicopter pilot told his people to disregard them. he knew what was happening, and he tried his best to stop it. This included telling his men to fire on fellow Americans to save innocent lives.

No I don't think that they were enemies to eachother but perhaps only to themselves. An internal battle raged between upbringing and fear and most importantly the instinct for survival (look at aniamals in the wild). What would any of us do if an enemy attacked and fled - an enemy that you couldn't see or fight - the ghost and the darkness if you will.

I agree with Charity. I believe the enemy was within each soldier. Some lost control, and sadly only a select few overcame the enemy within and did what was right. Yes, and I agree with whoever said we should look at the "brainwatching" or the way our soldiers are trainned. However, if the trainning is altered too much, we may loose more soldiers. I feel there were no excuses for those who raped, and those men (not really men but savage beasts!!!) most definitley should have been punished.

I have very mixed feelings in regards to the video. On one hand I am horrified at what these men did, but on the other hand I can some how understand. I feel that these men were weak. They felt that they could not stand up and protect these innocent people for fear of not doing their duty.