A recent article on an ammendment to the standing Rules of Engagement was written by Kyndra Rotunda, of the Christian Science Monitor. I just thought I'd share the information with you. In 2005, the Pentagon ammended its standing Rules of Engagement, making it more difficult for US soldiers to aggressively respond to hostile attack, by allowing commanders to limit the right soldiers have to self-defense. Why? They say the US is seeking to bring peace to Iraq, by winning the hearts and minds of the civilian population - and that innocent civillian deaths threaten to destroy this effort.
Marine Captain Rob Secher complains that "anytime an American fires a weapon there has to be an investigation into why there was an escalation of force."
One JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer talked about "statistics" and "studies" that showed that U.S. troops in Iraq have "itchy trigger fingers". When asked for studies to back up these accusations, none were available.
A recent t.v. news report showed, that in 2005, US troops had key Al-Queda commander Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi in their sights. However, they hesitated to fire on him as he sped through two checkpoints. Even the fact that his speeding car was aimed at checkpoints, and clearly stood as a deadly threat, troops reportedly waited to fire until they could positively i.d. him. They had to literally make eye contact with Zarqawi. As a result, he "amazingly escaped", leading to stories of his invincibility, and encouraging more terrorists. He continued to demonstrate violent acts, hurting US troops until he was killed by US airstrikes in June of 2006.
Several recent t.v. news reports have also talked about how police officers are being investigated for using too much force, or shooting and killing civillians in our own country. In most of the cases, the person who was attacked or shot was a suspect in some various crime. In fact, I don't recall any of these situations involving someone who wasn't causing trouble in some shape or form. Most of these situations involved the suspect standing in the way of a police car, or carrying a weapon that was aimed at the police. In any case, most of these suspects were being very aggressive toward the officers. I understand that we shouldn't go to the other extreme, of never investigating these issues. However, what's going on in this world, when troops or police are clearly defending themselves, and they're being prosecuted for it? If we don't put an end to unfair judgments and reports in these situations, we may end up in a far more threatening world.