Why are people in this thread defending the soldiers? Their actions, that is, point and click murder, was not justified, and pretending it was does no favor to their credibility.

Firstly, to address the "they were in a combat zone, they were stressed out and needed to act fast" statement:

This is just one more reason why they shouldn't have been making the call. With rampant military spending going down, it would be nice to see something practical being done: better cameras and a video feed back to base. If they haven't made that change by now I'd be very disappointed. If indeed there was a threat, their commanders may have made the same call, or, the second opinion could have noticed there were no weapons, and lives could have been saved. I'm sure this would inconvenience the pilots temporarily, especially if they were in a situation where there was a hidden threat, but always remember that a soldier's job involves dieing, and they should be prepared for that when enlisting. A civilian's job is not.

Now of course, you have to examine this from both sides as well. It is their country, but it also is a war-zone. So anyone who wasn't a war photographer or reporter shouldn't have been in the area. And journalists who cover combat should also be expectant of death, as it's a very real part of their job as well. Both parties involves can learn something from this, and I hope to God they implemented change after they realized what a mess had been made.

But you can't defend the military for this, and you can't defend the civilians, because they're both to blame. You can call them out, that's for sure, and that's best thing you can do. Because recognizing faults is the best way to improve on them. Never defend your actions. Instead, recognize that you aren't perfect, and that if someone has a problem with what you've done, address it, and see what can be done. You aren't perfect, and neither is anyone else.

The same thing goes for defending others. Don't take sides. This is a discussion, not a debate.