"The troops were under a lot of stress" is proabably the single most frequently used

[howard112211]

excuse for warcrimes. Anytime masses of civilians are executed, people will find a way to claim that they were somehow perceived as a
threat, or at least "enabling" a threat. This is an excuse that is routinely dismissed in war crime trials. We have invaded other countries within "humanitarian missions" for a lot less than what we are willing to give "our side" a free pass for.

[rucky]

1. I don't see it as an excuse for atrocities.

I see it as an argument against going to war in the first place. It makes otherwise normal people do some atrocious shit. It ruins the lives of innocent people.

[Lost4words]

2. YUP!

[madrchsod]

3. those guys in that film were not under stress

no one in that film made any threating moves to anyone in that area.

[stray cat]

4. Not an excuse - but self-righteousness from those whose idea of sacrifice is missing a tv show

is shallow as well.

[howard112211]

6. Ah yes. The "civilians will never know" argument.

Some people don't have to "have been there" to anticipate certain things and thus make decisions that will not lead them to the point where they will "have been there".

[JonLP24]

5. I agree 100%

This is coming from someone that was over there and went through incredible amounts of stress(Most of it coming from situations back in the US I had no control over and couldn't do anything about them).