I don't think we used the same barbaric methods. Terrorists have the intention of killing any nearby civilian , even if they are non government or military most of the time they play their attacks.
By hey, we had paperwork and believed enhanced torture was a legal loophole.
I knew a guy who joined the US Marines and talked about how he wanted to "shoot towel heads." I don't believe that the US armed forces are purely virtuous at the top, bottom, or in between levels. There likely is a non-zero number of service men/women who get some sort of sick joy out of murdering non-Americans.
> I don't believe that [they] are purely virtuous
The only claim I'm making is that there are members of the US military at all levels that don't have God-Like Perfect Morality.