while I feel empathy for the helpless creature, I find it amazing that so many people choose to excoriate the soldier. my question is: are there any amongst you who is not 100%vegetarian? unless you are 100% vegetarian, you have no license to find fault with the soldier.

Are you pretending to be so seriously stupid or does it just come naturally? The problem is not not eating animals or chicken. The problem is the cruelty in the way the bird was killed. Most people eat chicken or beef AFTER the animal is killed in a relatively HUMANE way. They don't eat chicken that is fried WHILE it is ALIVE or beef thrown into a pot while the animal is ALIVE.

1) Most MALE immature teens do stuff like this. I've done idiotic things to small animals, birds, etc in my teens that I would never ever do now. I admire all living things now and praise G_d for His creative genius. 2) Animals suffer a lot more pain when torn alive and eaten by raptors or other animals. Ever seen a hawk grab a bird in midflight? Guess what happens to the bird after that.

Are you seriously comparing a bird who has never hurt anyone, with a group of people who constantly incite terror against Israel, send suicide bombers and shoot rockets to Israel's towns? Truly a brain-dead comparison.

He should NOT be in the IDF....poor bird...you should be cast away its ok tho im sure god has something planed 4 you

How strange. Whenever I've been in Jaffa I've been sickened by the beaten, starved donkeys and horses owned your Arab brethren. And let's not even go to the hatred and incitement to violence taught to your children.

THAT MAN IS A MONSTER !

I don't condone this action, but I feel compelled to point out that anyone who has ever eaten clams, lobster or mussels really needs to STFU. Or is consuming food which is boiled alive permissible? How about fresh scallops? Don't they get sautéed alive? What about catching a fish on the line, and allowing it to suffocate out of the water while you heat up the grill? Is that somehow less cruel than boiling or sautéing your food alive? If any of you self-righteous talkbackers have ever eaten shellfish -- or raw oysters -- or caught a fish for grilling -- you are nothing more than a hypocrite. I am so glad I am a vegetarian.

Why don'tI read about that?