[m21sniper]

There are illegal acts, and soldiers get put away for them, just like civilian life. And the UCMJ is a lot less forgiving than a civvie court in most cases. It's in all the papers when an illegal killing, torture, etc. happens.

The US military is rabidly gung-ho about rules of engagement and moral conduct at the institutional level. There is no culture of murder and mayhem, it's as simple as that. The US military is an extremely image driven entity.