This is a post by bigkegabeer in reddit. Just thought it was interesting...

 I'm military and been right over that neighborhood at a
different time; the video may be disturbing but doesn't strike me as
unjustifiable. The coverup is what we should save our real vitriol for.
I know some of you will immediately dismiss this as you view everyone
in the military as inherently evil. I find that silly. (There are also
people who think I can do no wrong because I AM and I find that
dangerous). Give it a read anyway.

War is an ugly, atrocious action. Bad things happen every day; good
things only rarely. It's a waste of money, time, potential, and
especially lives. What's in this video is distasteful to say the least,
but it's also intentionally inflammatory (presumably so WL gets more
clicks, and we all obliged them). This video is from a period of
increasing, and increasingly violent, action by insurgents. Mortar and
rocket attacks, IEDs/EFPs, executions in the most grotesque manner, were
all becoming the norm.

The men you hear are reacting to stress from a variety of sources:
lack of sleep because of indirect fire attacks, stress from friends
being WIA/KIA, stress from feeling little support from the Iraqis at
that time, from being away from home and family. In all that stress,
they still behaved according to the rules of engagement. They
positively identified small arms (which are a threat) and misidentified
an RPG. Had I not known, I would also have called out RPG. It
unfortunately looks like it, and that was amplified by the pose he took.
WL added in captions to let you know there were cameras to amplify
outrage, but having flown around Baghdad in helos everything
looks like a threat after they shoot at you.

Shooting the van was also justifiable because the "insurgents" were
going to collect their wounded and weapons. Clearly the aircrew were
wrong, but not unjustifiably and probably only in hindsight. They
followed the ROEs, received approval to fire, and did so efficiently.
Further, the initial statements that said they were engaged with a
violent group also does not strike me as "cover up." If you've ever
been involved with an emergency situation you know the first reports out
are usually wrong. The later reports, however, I find
repugnant. Events like this make me want to stay in
the military because I don't want the bastards trying to cover up what
was a horrific mistake thinking I won't be right over their shoulder
next time.

I have found virtually all the military members I was with in Iraq
serious, professional (at least on duty!), and genuinely concerned for
civilians. You saw the soldiers running out with the kids. Genuine
concern there, from fathers, older brothers, cousins that know kids like
that back home. The amount of work we did to keep civilians out of
harms way was breathtaking sometimes because it put us in much more
vulnerable situations. I'm good with that. I signed up, they didn't.
As for the attitude and demeanor of the aircrew, yep, it's
stomach-turning. I did see this on occasion, and it's not something
I've seen many redditors say they teach you in training. It's a defense
mechanism to deal with the privations and violence you see.
Dehumanizing the enemy makes it easier to deal with it. If you've never
read or seen a synopsis of On
Killing you absolutely should. That's why running over a body was
seemingly funny. I'm ashamed to say I've had similar gut reactions of
really terrible things, and like those guys I feel awful about it when I
reflect.

This post isn't to justify the killings, but hopefully to tone down
some of the hyperbole. It's a terrible tragedy; it's a waste; I'd love
to see us out of Iraq as soon as feasible. It's not a war crime. It's
not 18-year-old kids just wanting to kill people for the fun of it.
Now, let's all be pissed together that it took this long to get the real
story out. OK, too long of a ramble but I needed to get it off my
chest.