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The recent battle in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province was a key test case for new rules of engagement that emphasized protecting civilians rather than killing insurgents. The town was taken, but whether that was because of the new rules or despite them remains to be seen. The rules of engagement are probably the most restrictive ever seen for a war of this nature. NATO forces cannot fire on suspected Taliban fighters unless they are clearly visible, armed and posing a direct threat. Buildings suspected of containing insurgents cannot be targeted unless it is certain that civilians are not also...

Normally, one would not find a connection between a critically negative UN Report on an Israeli military operation and the Rules of Engagement (ROE) imposed on American and NATO troops operating in another theater, namely Afghanistan. But is there some correlation, some linkage between the two? I think there very well may be one. Let us look at some particulars. In the Goldstone Report, any casualty found without a weapon was treated for all intents and purposes as a civilian. In Afghanistan, our troops are to refrain from discharging their weapons towards any target, even known terrorists from al-Queda and...

A new directive, confirmed Wednesday by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, aims to limit nighttime raids on Afghan civilians. It was prompted by a storm of complaints from Afghans who were enraged over foreign soldiers bursting into their homes. "We didn't understand what a cultural line it was," McChrystal said during a luncheon with a group of young Afghans involved in a leadership program.

The United States Marines now fighting the battle of Marja, Afghanistan are facing a most difficult mission. They are tasked with clearing the town of Taliban fighters – and they are restricted by rules of engagement not seen heretofore in the history of U.S. warfare. Commanding General Stanley McChrystal has made limiting civilian casualties a higher priority than loss of American lives. And it is impossible to tell who is the enemy in a Muslim State that still resembles the Stone Age. The Los Angeles Times coverage by Tony Perry and Laura King is here:

MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) — Some American and Afghan troops say they're fighting the latest offensive in Afghanistan with a handicap — strict rules that routinely force them to hold their fire. Although details of the new guidelines are classified to keep insurgents from reading them, U.S. troops say the Taliban are keenly aware of the restrictions. "I understand the reason behind it, but it's so hard to fight a war like this," said Lance Cpl. Travis Anderson, 20, of Altoona, Iowa. "They're using our rules of engagement against us," he said, adding that his platoon had repeatedly seen men drop...

Troops: Strict War Rules Slow Afghan Offensive Sign in to Recommend THE ASSOCIATED PRESS February 15, 2010 MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) -- Some American and Afghan troops say they're fighting the latest offensive in Afghanistan with a handicap -- strict rules that routinely force them to hold their fire. Although details of the new guidelines are classified to keep insurgents from reading them, U.S. troops say the Taliban are keenly aware of the restrictions. ''I understand the reason behind it, but it's so hard to fight a war like this,'' said Lance Cpl. Travis Anderson, 20, of Altoona, Iowa. ''They're using...

MARJAH, Afghanistan — Sniper teams attacked U.S. Marines and Afghan troops across the Taliban haven of Marjah, as several gun battles erupted Monday on the third day of a major offensive to seize the extremists' southern heartland. Multiple firefights in different locations taxed the ability of coalition forces to provide enough air support as NATO forces forged deeper into the town, moving through suspected insurgent neighborhoods, the U.S. Marines said. In northern Marjah, an armored column came under fire from at least three separate sniper teams, slowing its progress. One of the teams came within 155 feet and started firing....

<p>Two U.S. rockets slammed into a home Sunday outside the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah, killing 12 civilians after Afghanistan's president appealed to NATO to take care in its campaign to seize the town.</p> <p>Inside Marjah, Marines encountered "death at every corner" in their second day of a massive offensive to capture this bleak mud-brick city filled with booby traps, hardcore Taliban fighters and civilians unsure where to cast their loyalty.</p>

COMBAT OUTPOST FIDDLER’S GREEN, Afghanistan Sgt. Jefferson Haney is a rarity, and his fellow Marines look at him with just a little bit of envy. The artilleryman with the 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment is one of few who have done what they spent countless hours training for: firing his howitzer at the enemy. “Two rounds on an enemy bunker,” recalled Haney as he stood near the firing line at Fiddler’s Green, a combat outpost in Helmand province. “The bunker was destroyed.” With new and more stringent rules of engagement imposed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal in an effort to reduce...

NANGAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — As his commander greeted a local leader in a district government building one day recently, Air Force Technical Sgt. Tyler Woodson, 20, scurried past them and ran up three flights of stairs to the roof. There, Woodson, of Macon, Ga., surveyed the town. He saw children playing soccer in an adjacent field, trucks traveling on the main throughway and, several hundred yards away, a glorious range of mountains touching the sky. He knew that was the best place to drop a bomb from an F-16 — where there was no chance of striking anyone or anything....

Chief Justice John Roberts last week made it clear that the Supreme Court over which he presides will not hesitate to sweep away its own major constitutional rulings when doing so is necessary to defend America’s bedrock governing document. The announcement of that guiding core principle means two very big things. First, Roberts and his fellow strict constructionists on the court are now armed and ready with a powerful rationale for overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling if Justice Anthony Kennedy or a future justice becomes the fifth vote against Roe. Secondly, successfully placing Roberts atop the high...

The ubiquitous yellow jugs joined to the hips of Florida pool owners are different icons in Afghanistan. They’re the carriers of fertilizer and diesel fuel terrorists use to blow up our boys with roadside bombs called IED’s. Question: “Was it our general and not our President doing the dithering in the 90 days of contemplation before Obama released 30,000 more of our boys to be fed into the maw of a war we refuse to win?” In a recent NPR interview Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman (just returned from being “in country,”) told hostess Renee Montagne he observed our Marines tracking...

Five years ago, a particularly gruesome image made its way to our television screens from the war in Iraq. Four U.S. civilian contractors working in Fallujah were ambushed and killed by al Qaeda. Their bodies were burned, then dragged through the streets. Two of the charred bodies were hung from the Euphrates Bridge and left dangling. This barbaric act left an impression that our military did not forget: In a special operation earlier this year, Navy SEALs captured the mastermind of that attack, Ahmed Hashim Abed. But after he was taken into custody in September, Abed claimed he was punched...

Gen. Stanley McChrystal's long-awaited testimony before Congress on the Afghanistan "surge" was, according to one account, "uneventful." The general himself, another story noted, was "a study in circumspection." And questioning from lawmakers was, said a third, "gentle." That's a nice word for it. "Ineffectual" is more like it. Throw in "callous," too, given House members' obligations to constituents in the war zone, operating under what are surely the most restrictive rules of engagement (ROE) in U.S. history. But not a single lawmaker appears to have ventured one question about these dangerously disarming ROEs, which, in Gen. McChrystal's controversial view, are...

We now conduct war so that a lawyer can tell a general not to kill an enemy leader, while three SEALs need a lawyer to defend them after completing a successful mission. Wars requite warriors, not lawyers. Anyone who does not know this is a dangerous fool, even if he wears the uniform of a general or an admiral, or sits in the Pentagon or the Oval Office.

Pentagon official blames U.S. for al-Qaida attacks Worked for George Soros, argued for government control of media April 20, 2009 By Aaron Klein © 2009 WorldNetDaily She believes al-Qaida was an "obscure group" turned into a massive threat due to U.S. policies. She's referred to former President Bush as "our torturer in chief" and a "psychotic who need(s) treatment" while comparing Bush's arguments for waging a war on terrorism to Adolf Hitler's use of political propaganda. She's worked on behalf of George Soros' philanthropic foundation. Meet Rosa Brooks, the Obama administration's new adviser to Michelle Fluornoy, the undersecretary of defense...

Posted: October 31, 2009 By Chelsea Schilling © 2009 WorldNetDaily A pro-life movement seeking to guarantee basic human rights to unborn babies is exploding in 32 states – and leaders say it could be just the key to nullifying abortion provisions in President Obama's health-care "reform." While abortion was not specifically mentioned in earlier bills under consideration, H.R.3962, unveiled by Nancy Pelosi this week, does in fact state abortion is to be covered. Concerns are mounting that whatever the final form of the legislation, the procedure will become more accessible, requiring health insurance companies to fund abortions. Gualberto Garcia Jones...

Militant fighters streaming from an Afghan village and a mosque attacked a pair of remote outposts near the Pakistani border, killing eight U.S. soldiers and as many as seven Afghan forces in one of the fiercest battles of the eight-year war.

Yet calls and letters go unanswered! President Obama issued the following invitation at a Town Hall meeting he held in July in Raleigh, NC (White House transcript): So I just want everybody to know, Congress will have time to read the bill. They will have time to debate the bill. They will have all of August to review the various legislative proposals. When we come back in September, I will be available to answer any question that members of Congress have. If they want to come over to the White House and go over line by line what's going on,...

Report: Rules of engagement led to soldiers’ deaths By Michelle Malkin  •  September 16, 2009 11:01 AM Dear God (hat tip – Lynn S): NATO-led forces are investigating the death of four Marines in eastern Afghanistan after their commanders reportedly rejected requests for artillery fire in a battle with insurgents, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.Tuesday’s incident was “under investigation” and details remained unclear, press secretary Geoff Morrell told a news conference.A McClatchy newspapers’ journalist who witnessed the battle reported that a team of Marine trainers made repeated appeals for air and artillery support after being pinned down by insurgents in the village...