Here is the text I read in both Engish (NAS) and Hebrew:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek for what
he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way
while he was coming up from Egypt.
The idea of wiping out Amelek did not come from Saul but
from Yahweh through Samuel to Saul. The idea was that
instead of just attacking Amelek as any other enemy, i.e.
fighting the solders and leaving the non-combatants alone,
everyone and everything would be attacked and destroyed.
The justification for depatrue from normal practice was the
sin Amelek had committed two hundred years earlier of
attacking Isreal as they left Egypt.
I certainly don't mean to offend but the text seems quite
straight forward and unambiguous.
Jack Tladatsi
[b-hebrew] 1 Samuel 15 & Punishment,
tladatsi, 04/22/2005