what are they, frreaken Romans? is this the crusade?

I don't think so, i think it's just that the author wants to say "Look, they are bad guys, they kill and rape everyone, hate them".
Also, they are really stupid antagonists :)

were you answering to my title? lol those questions were rhetorical questions. and yeah, I think so too. They're doing it out of fear of losing everything (family, etc) yet they are doing it back towards the innocent.