I was in a combat MOS(military ocupational specalty) for all but 2 years of my enlistment.I was in combat situations,but even after all of that I knew the differance between an armed enemy and a fellow Marine,especially a pregnant one and civilians.CL is listed at 5 foot 9,my height and 170/175,what I weighed while I was in.Maria is listed at 5 foot 4 and 140,8.5 months pregnant.There is no way,even on my worst day after the stuff I was through or any of my buddies that I or them would consider her a hostile threat that needed to be eliminated.We all agreed on that.You could back peddle to get away from her if she did come at you.This killing was spur of the moment and out of rage.[/quo
That is true of you and your buddies, but everyone is different with different mindsets and personality traits. Plus you can say how you think you would react in the same/similiar situation but when emotions are hot and you are in the middle of a mess, you may not react as you thought you would. There are many factors you have to consider here.
As for their being desk jockeys, yes, they were and I understand they weren't in Iraq or combat of any sort. That does not change the initial training. And again you have to factor in any control issues either one of them had, mental state at the time, and past/current mental health issues. There are, in fact, people who have extremely confrontational personality's with control/anger issues which have been aggravated by adding in military training. I am NOT faulting the Marines here or their training. My dad was never in combat either. But that didn't change how he reacted to basic training etc. His childhood and family history pulled into play. Add in training like that and you can very well end up with a ticking bomb.
It's just my thoughts on the situation at hand. This case could have easily been avoided, imo. Maria did not have to die and neither did her child. This was a situation which should have been addressed before it got out of hand. AND, again imo, the Marines in charge at that base are partially responsible. She was harassed many times. She reported a rape. She reported harassment. And in many ways because she was a woman, she was abandoned.