And here in lies the difference between some perceptions of the US military system and other perceptions.
In the UK it is a requirement of an officer to ensure that the orders he or she has been given are just and legal. If the officer decides that enough ambiguity exists it is their right to challenge their superiors for justification of the order.
The 'I was just following orders' excuse went out with the Nuremburg Trails I'm afraid.
This guy had the balls to call into question the decisions of those at the top, political and military, and has been made the scapegoat by those protecting their own elevated positions and mistakes. I would be surprised if he did not know that posting to a public platform would get him into hot water. Perhaps his intention was to get this out into the forum of public debate whilst being fully aware of what it was going to cost. Personally, as an 18 year serving veteran myself, we need more of these people to expose those that supress such shortcomings in the system.
AIMVHO of course.