I really do think it was done for expediency. Bloated, stinking bodies, high heat, other tactical considerations...all conspire to make it far easier to burn them than bury them. I really don't see what the big deal is, the guys were already dead and if some jerk hadn't photographed it, it never happened.
Well .. whether somebody photographed it or not .. it still happened. Character is developed by what you do in secret - not what you can get away with in secret.