[Chewbaccus]

They worked the cop over for hours by the book, and were getting nowhere. So they fucked with his head a little.

Now, the rounding up of the family, that was a poor decision. As rich pointed out, if the general called the bluff, or just didn't give a shit, then the colonel would be screwed. Either he shoots one of them - even a nonlethal shot - and confirms every ounce of propaganda proclaiming Western troops as the "conquering infidel horde" or whatever, or he lets them go and weakens the position of every soldier in the country.

Unorthodox measures are acceptable, when all the orthodox ones have been exhausted, and the consequences of them turning out poorly have been thought out.