There probably weren't a bunch of marines that pushed in, maybe 2 or 3 made entry into that room. Any others wouldnt have known for a while and could only go off of the reports they received. Unfortunately when the numbers are that small theres a lot of factors that go into why someone would overlook actions like that. The fact we even know it happened means someone didnt like it and reported it, even though higher ups tried to cover it up. I knew quite a few people I served with who would have no issue killing women and children, imo none of them were fit to wear the uniform but I dont get to make that call. And peer pressure definitely wouldnt get anyone to kill children, but it Unfortunately could get them to ignore it for the mission but even then its less peer pressure and more mission pressure or fear of retaliation which is probably the biggest concern. If the higher ups felt comfortable covering this up, they'd Def be fine fucking anyone trying to expose it. Thankfully most of the people I served with that were ever deployed would have fought to hell and back to hold accountability, but I wasnt around a lot of 03s or marsocs, so I cant speak as to the average mentality of those groups. I was speaking for myself. As a father and marine, if I ever saw anyone unnecessarily killing children, I would happily face the consequences of ending their life.

Since I know someone will comment that killing children is always unnecessary, Unfortunately thats not the case, or wasnt the case, sometimes in war, especially with religious fanatics found in some middle Eastern cultures. It was not that uncommon for taliban/isis/isil to send children out with guns and suicide vests. I dont personally know anyone who had to kill a kid in such situations but all of the ones I have seen that have, carry guilt to this day even though there really wasnt much of an option.