Qais Hussain's anguish at firing at an unarmed civilan aircraft is deeply touching..."unfortunate loss of precious lives, no matter how it happens, hurts each human and I am no exception. I feel sorry for you, your family and the other seven families who lost their dearest ones.."

Qais deserves a praise for his deep sense of humanity even after 46 years. Clearly time cannot heal all wounds.  While soldiers carry the trauma of war, especially when innocent civilians become casuality (My Lai) or "collateral damage", precious few have courage to reach out to the familiy of the victims and offer condolences. 

However, Qais destroys this wonderful display of his human side by taking the Nuremberg Defense in his letter. He asserts that he was doing no wrong and just following his superior's orders.."I did not play foul and went by the rules of business" !

It has been a well settled law by several military justice systems and the International Law that no one is bound to follow an illegal order. A superior order can protect a subordinate only if the order itself was legal.

No Military rule of business allows an armed soldier to shoot an unarmed civilian specially when the civilian was asking for mercy...to quote Qais again "Your father spotted my presence immediately and he started climbing and waggling his wings seeking mercy."

Qais deserves a salute from all of us for offering his condolences even after lapse of all these years.

One can only wish that soldiers follow a higher sense of discrimination and respect for civilians in combat situations. This is critical today as terrorists have resorted to hiding within the civilian population.

Wishful thinking!!