The Value of a Human Life

So when I first started writing my blog, I wanted to stay away from social and political rants, but I really felt I had to write about this issue.

Yesterday I was reading an article on CNN that talked about the US Government's payout to the families of the 16 Afghan civilians who were recently murdered by an American soldier.
They stated that the US Government was going to pay $50,000 to the families of each civilian that was killed, and $11,000 to those injured.
My first reaction was 'Seriously, That's it????'
We spent $663 Billion dollars on our defense budget in 2010, and yet that is all we value an innocent human life?  These people weren't killed as a side effect of a bomb or military operation while engaging the enemy, they were killed by a lone rogue soldier in the dead of night.  Now the government has carefully stated that this is not 'compensation' but is given out of compassion for their deaths and the murderer will be put on trial, but still... that's it??
This amount, it was stated, is a substantial increase of what the US normally compensates for civilians killed during our wars. In 2010 we typically compensated $2000 to the families of Afghan civilians who were killed during a military operation. I have to wonder who decided $2000 was an appropriate amount. Could that small amount really helps replace the lost wage earner in a society where there is usually only one wage earner per family?

In 1988, Americans accidentally shot down a civilian air liner that was leaving Iran during the Iran/Iraq war.
While we never accepted official 'blame' for that incident, we still ended up compensating each victim's family $213,000 for a total of $8million. Quite a bit more than $2,000....

All of these deaths were civilians caught in the cross fire of our war with their country, and yes we compensated their families for their deaths, but I find it so disturbing to see the wide range of what we deemed 'appropriate' to compensate civilian families for their loss.

What is the value of a human life?  $2,000, $50,000, $200,000?
What would have been paid if it had been American civilians caught up in a military operation? Does our government think that the value of an American life is greater than the value of an Afghan life?  Are these civilians part of the war we are fighting? Are they for or against us and does that affect what they are 'worth'?  Is it right that though we decided to invade a country 10 years ago that we can still make up the rules as to what is 'collateral damage' and what is 'murder'?  I don't have an answer to any of these questions, but I do think they are worth asking.

Post Script:
I hope that this post can be taken as it is intended, an honest and concerned questioning of our government's ethics and moral policies as a country at war.  It is not intended to discredit or dishonor those who are fighting bravely and honestly for their countries, nor is it mean to belittle in any way the lives that have been lost by soldiers and civilians of all nationalities.

Article references:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/25/world/asia/afghanistan-killings-money/index.html?iref=allsearch 
http://www.statesman.com/news/world/u-s-provides-payments-to-afghans-after-soldiers-2261074.html?printArticle=y
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655
http://www.civicworldwide.org/healing-the-wounds/afghanistan