Petraeus to review ROE
I picked this article up from Ace of Spades from the Telegraph which claims that the new commander in Afghanistan, General Petraeus is going to review the Rules of ENgagement that the troops there have been laboring under for the past year;
“There will be no change in overall policy but all aspects of tactics and implementation will be looked at afresh,” a Pentagon official told The Daily Telegraph. “The issue of ‘courageous restraint’ is a controversial one on the ground and there may be ways it can be modified.”
Changes to allow soldiers more flexibility in using lethal force are likely to be welcomed by both American and British troops.
This month became the bloodiest of the nine-year war yesterday after four British were killed when their Ridgeback vehicle rolled into a canal in Helmand.
Yeah, Petraeus had better put a more flexible ROE in place before that dick Eikenberry gets his greasy, ham-handed paws on them. Knowing Eikenberry like I do, he’d rather have the troops shoot each other than the Taliban.
A British official who also worked with Gen Petraeus said: “Gen McChrystal imposed courageous restraint as a mantra whereas the big theme of Gen Petraeus was strategic patience.
“The difference between the two is important. Gen Petraeus believes in getting all elements in place through a slow strategic build up but he also prizes the importance of momentum by walking through the streets and taking them on.”
Anything that kills bad guys and brings more Americans home alive.
Category: Military issues, Terror War
One can hope that common sense will eventually prevail, the restrictions placed on our troops are onerous in the extreme.
Ah the good old days of carpet bombing and acceptable collateral damage. Please can we bring back the heavy handed tactics of WWII? Seriously. I know, fat chance.
I’ll make no apologies for placing the value of an American soldier’s life over that of any indigenous inhabitant of any nation we find ourselves fighting in. Fastest way to get us out of your country is to side with us and SCOUR OUT the rot growing in their own backyard. It’s a heavy handed philosophy they readily understand.
Some ideas are so basic they should require no explanation, but simply put in terms anyone can understand, I don’t offer my children milk and cookies while in the process of disciplining them, they get the milk and cookies after the discipline has been administered and they have shown ready acceptance of their errors and a willingness to make the changes necessary to a peaceful and responsible coexistence. I personally believe our approach so far in Afghanistan has been ass backwards, and think the current ROE to be at least morally if not legally criminal.
ONE of the reasons a patient is sedated for surgery is so that they don’t bolt from the room when the time comes for the surgeon to apply the knife.
Perhaps something similar could be arranged for our politicians when it comes time for our military to fight our wars…
British and US commanders will tell you that many AF recent problems can be traced directly to when airstrikes essentially stopped. They will say that now Taliban guys won’t do much of anything when an aircraft is overhead and are allowed to become much more brazen.