That's why the military should NOT be used for law enforcement. But that's not what's going on in this case. They were reacting to an IED, and the original posting mentions a "seasoned" Army sergeant and a "possible" bombing, yet we know the outcome in this particular instance. I still say, based on what's been reported, the Army has a case, in that he clearly violated the ROEs.

When we did our pre-convoy briefings before going outside the wire in Kirkuk, I made it a point to tell everyone that it's common in the Iraqi culture for men to carry weapons, so that in and of itself did not pose an immediate threat to us. However, if they pointed those weapons at us, that was a threat, and we could engage. Just as when we approached overpasses, it was a standard convoy TTP for our lead and rear gun trucks to unpin their crew-served weapons and point them at whoever was walking or standing on those overpasses.

No arguing it's a fine line between self-defense and being a KIA/WIA statistic. But again, it's hard to win the "hearts and minds" of the locals if we end up killing or wounding them unnecessarily. That's what the ROEs are supposed to help prevent.