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It’s worth noting that the vets I know are somewhat offended by that comparison because they had considerable training about use of force to prevent things like this — their commanders cared about the residents’ opinion of them far more than many police departments seem to.

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Agreed. All my vet friends get pretty worked up about this topic, particularly the lack of oversight. Even if you're in an active war zone, if you raise your weapon (even if the person you're aiming at is holding a weapon), it goes in your after-action report and is reviewed by your superiors to see if your actions conformed to the rules of engagement in that scenario.

That’s a fair point! A better comparison might be with something like Blackwater, i.e unaccountable thugs with guns, or with a combat environment where there are no civilians to get in the way.

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