Posted on 12/15/2004 12:29:01 PM PST by Weimdog
Morning Edition, December 15, 2004 ·
Commanders on the ground in Iraq are forced to weigh the risks of civilian casualties against the need to complete their objective. If they make the wrong decision, they could end-up violating the Geneva Conventions or in front of a military tribunal. To prevent this, the Pentagon has started putting lawyers on the battlefield. Kristian Foden-Vencil of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
Political Officers
The marines are about to get more cannon fodder.Embeds and lawyers.
If they screw things up, they'll get busted. These lawyers are on the side of the armed forces because they are part of the armed forces. If occasionally they advise against something, it's going to be good advice.
Laywers are the problem. They are the reason we missed Mullah Omar in the first days of the battle. If this is continuing, than they are no better than the Klinton administration for fighting PC wars and getting Americans killed.
Interesting question, and hopefully one that remains a "what-if".
There must be some JAG types floating around FR to opine on that...
At least one major wrong call was already made early during the Afghanistan War. A Predator armed with a Hellfire missile had Mullah Omar and his party directly in it's sights and needed only authorization to fire. A Pentagon lawyer nixed the shot. Omar and his entire structure completely escaped to fight another day. No doubt we have already lost a lot of troops just due to that one crazy decision. The lawyer is probably "retired" on a nice pension and now has a cushy job working for the ACLU between gigs on his sailboat.
On the other hand, this would be a fine idea as long as these battlefield lawyers are ACLU lawyers. Give them something "useful" to do besides bother the rest of us and peck our Constitution to death. The only caveat should be they get dressed in red Santa suits so nobody "accidentally" shoots them. Let them accompany the guys on the front lines. We'll see what sort of legal advice they give and how many get to come home.
Just damn.......
What happens if your assigned lawyer is a crazed Muslim-hater....or worse, what if he's a Muslim?
As a refresher you might want to read #24. Wonder how many troops died because of that "Good call". Lawyers should only be used for one thing on the battle field, target practice.
Zampolits (Political officers) for the US military = lawyers on the battlefield.
fyi
For targe practice, mine detection, or luring out insurgents? Any one of them is fine with me.
Follow Shakespeare's advice - "First, kill all the lawyers.' Please note that this is a literary quote, not hate speech.
Their Watching too many of those JAG episodes.
The meaning behind this quote is one of the most misunderstood in literary history.
The character espousing this view is a would-be tyrant who knows that the best way to force his will on a society is by destroying the rule of law.
This is nothing new. Been happening since at least Desert Storm, probably much earlier.
OK, that makes sense...
The MSM is forcing a PC war on us............
They were called Zampolits. I like what Sean Connery did to the one in Hunt for Red October.
Thanks.. I forgot what they were called... I agree I do like What Sean Connery did to the one in The Hunt For Red October too... I see it happening to if they interfere out in the field... (ok maybe not but you know the thought would be going through some minds.)
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