Something I am not sure what to make of

The U.S. Army conducts a poll of the soldiers and Marines in Iraq. The Washington Post headlines its story as Troops at Odds With Ethics Standards. The Post seems to find the following a bit amazing;

More than one-third of U.S. soldiers in Iraq surveyed by the Army said they believe torture should be allowed if it helps gather important information about insurgents, the Pentagon disclosed yesterday. Four in 10 said they approve of such illegal abuse if it would save the life of a fellow soldier.

In addition, about two-thirds of Marines and half the Army troops surveyed said they would not report a team member for mistreating a civilian or for destroying civilian property unnecessarily. "Less than half of Soldiers and Marines believed that non-combatants should be treated with dignity and respect," the Army report stated.

I do not find that amazing. With the fight that we have in Iraq, those non-combatants could easily become combatants. Given a choice between ethics and survival, survival generally wins. I find it all of a piece with the rest of the report of how our military policy is destroying the mental health of our soldiers and marines.

My one thought at the end of the article was this: so this is how we fight a war on the cheap, treat our soldiers and marines like disposable parts.