From 30K feet, everything looks like a target. They're trying to avoid killing civilians unnecessarily because their relatives tend to take it personally (and join the jihad). Our ROE's are what they are because the American people will not countenance the torture of jihadists for information. Another way of putting this is that we don't yet view enemy civilians and combatants as vermin to be exterminated without any moral qualms. Yet. As long as the military force is composed mainly of volunteers rather than draftees, and casualties remain limited, these ROE's are probably what we're stuck with.
ROIs are great enhancements of Bush’s and made more Draconian by Obama.
Liberals and their media allies will not stand for civi deaths, internment, or “torture” of muslims in war, but are OK if civi deaths done by illegals on whites or blacks on blacks in the US.
We are stuck with these ROIs until either Iran or ISIS nukes us; else we get a conservative President and Congress.