I see their utility as well in the circumstances you mention, but the story discussed operations in Fallujah in particular.
It seems to me that a lawyer will err on the side of "international law", while the military commander would make a decision based on the well being of his troops.
I wonder what kind of reprocussions face one of these lawyers who makes the wrong call and gets our boys killed?
The marines are about to get more cannon fodder.Embeds and lawyers.
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.