They will tell it the way they want it and MORE AMERICAN soldiers will die. That is this admin’s goal and has been from the jump.
That’s the truth in a nut shell. The press could publish the story on page 23 or not publish it like they do the stories that hurt their agenda, but instead they choose to put out the pictures and the story (no matter the age) on page 1.
Regardless, I couldn’t care less if the soldiers had a good time posing dead suicide bombers. It seems insane to those of us not in a war zone, but then we don’t realize that war is essentially insanity in action.
One other thing that leads to this stuff is that bad ROE sometimes get a wink and a nod from the command and that in turn creates an atmosphere of “don’t worry about the official rules, you know what is right.” That atmosphere is always going to be misinterpreted by a certain % of people.
I have heard of some ways that soldiers are prepared to defend their unROE actions should a JAG person ask. The fact is, if the ROE is counter to protecting yourself or your brothers, then soldiers will violate the ROE but do or say otherwise. One one hand, I say great, but on the other, it is creating a slipperly slope that isn’t defined and will lead to discipline problems.
Ultimately, it’s up to the upper brass and the President to establish workable realistic ROEs or they set the table for this stuff to go on.