The Americans in Iraq - ethics

All 130,000 active US soldiers are to undergo 30 days ethics training following atrocities at the Abu Graves jail and recently at a checkpoint. The training will involve teaching the troops the "core warrior values" (Pentagon quote). Now I have, fairly obviously, never been in battle or other such situations, but it strikes me that the troops must know that certain things are morally and ethically wrong, even in the heat of battle. It doesn't matter what the provocation is, there can be no excuse for essentially criminal acts. Wars have to be fought under rules and guidelines - even if the "other side" doesn't adhere to those same principles. I strongly suspect that when the red mist descends, people will do things that they deeply regret, and in some cases will have to and must answer for later. However, to suggest that the troops are not aware of the rights and wrongs of battle, when they are in a country essentially to get that people back into self-government and you need to be seen as a positive force, is ridiculous.

Firstly, this "training" should be part of basic training. Armies are trained to kill and fight and win battles, but at the same time the major deployment these days is either as a peace-keeping force, be that in the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, etc., as a humanitarian aid force (Pakistan, Indonesia), or as an aid to the legitimate government (Iraq). There are necessarily different rules of engagement in each case.

Some rules:

• If you are going to shoot or abuse people, don't take photos and send them to your friends.
  
• If you shoot and kill unarmed women, children and babies, don't tell the world that it was the building collapsing, especially when there are lots of eye-witnesses and the bodies are riddled with bullets.
  
• What is possibly excusable in the heat of battle is not when you have taken prisoners and can be calm about the situation (especially when more senior officers are around to take control)

My point is that these values should be obvious, even to troops - 30 days' training is ludicrous and suggests either something rotten to the core in the US military, or alternatively that they are doing something for the sake of being seen to do it.

Incidentally, are the Pentagon training themselves in the principle that it is not ethical to detain people without trial for years and years away from the mainland jurisdiction, or are they being "selective with their ethics"?