[AndyJackson]

I follow the lawful orders of my superiors.

And that you think that his is a particularly meaningful or cogent statement is why you are unfit for a command, which fortunately, you will never have. Battlefield commanders must make life-and-death decisions under great pressure and often with little time to reflect, with often arbitrary and conflicting rules and rules that do not clearly apply to the circumstances, always with mission accomplishment and safety of his forces foremost in his mind. You, in your barracks lawyer mentality put a value on neither lives of his men, nor mission accomplishment, which are among a commanders most sacred duties.

You are quite simply dead wrong about the bit about protecting the lives of the men under his command not being part of his duties. It is one of his foremost obligations, which, in your ignorance of command responsibility and the traditions of American military you overlook.

[Ispy4u]

I have agreed that preserving the lives of his men is a primary consideration to be planned and integrated in to any mission a commander has been assigned. You and others here are under the wrong headed thinking that it must be issue number one. Well that isn't the case. No leader wants his men to die, but the reality is in combat some will. A commander must plan his mission within the restrictions placed on him by his superiors, sometimes that makes the job tougher. Even the superiors who put the ROEs in place usually fear that those rules will enhace the danger to their men, but that can not affect a leaders judgement.

As more comes out on this, it will be shown that many of you presented outrage in the face of something you didn't understand and will look foolish for your attacks on those with more level heads.