Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Afghanistan: Dotting the I's and Crossing the T's...

...before you're allowed to shoot the enemy.

Under the current rules of engagement, troops retain the right to use lethal force in self defense, said U.S. Col. Wayne Shanks, a spokesman for the international force.

The rules seek to put the troops in the “right frame of mind to exercise that right,” Shanks said. They require troops to ask a few fundamental questions:

• Even if someone has shot in my general direction, am I still in danger?

• Will I make more enemies than I’ll kill by destroying property, or harming innocent civilians?

• What are my other options to resolve this without escalating the violence?


New soldier's prayer: Dear Lord, please let me get through this checklist before the jihadi shoots my ass...

4 comments:

Burke said...

And, by all means, don't give anyone a busted lip.

Cargosquid said...

And when asked whether or not those questions were asked, you shout, "Sir, yes sir!"

How would you prove they weren't....


Kinda like, "It was coming right at me!"

Firehand said...

...his troops might be frustrated, but understand the reasons...
Translation: "We understand that if we don't follow these bullshit rules some lawyer in uniform will hang us; and if we do follow them, the bad guys just might kill us. Oh, we understand, all right."

Michael Hawkins said...

Reminds me of:

"We're in a war, dammit! We're going to have to offend somebody!"