'Rules' of War Limit Marines(and Soldiers...Must read!)

Orange County Register ^ | August 20, 2006 | GORDON DILLOW

[kellynla]

We call it "the war in Iraq." But to many of the Marines here, it's not really a war – at least not on their side.

"They are fighting a war," a Marine from 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment tells me – "they" meaning the insurgents lurking "outside the wire" of a Marine forward operating base in the Euphrates River town of Barwanah, in western Al Anbar province.

"But us?" the Marine goes on. "We aren't fighting a war. We're just doing a police action."

The young Marine is right. While the insurgents here and throughout Iraq battle American Marines and soldiers with deadly weapons of warfare – IEDs ("improvised explosive devices," or roadside bombs), sniper attacks, mortars, two of which exploded near this forward operating base just the day before – the Marines have to respond under "rules of engagement," or "ROEs," that would be familiar to any cop in America.

Are the Marines catching sniper rounds from a cluster of buildings in the city? In a conventional war, that would be reason enough to light up the buildings with suppressive fire.

But under the Iraq ROEs, unless the Marines get "P.I.D." or "positive identification" – eyes on a guy with a rifle, or a muzzle flash, something very localized and specific – they can't fire back.

Do the Marines see four young males fleeing the scene of an IED attack? The Marines can try to chase them down in vehicles or on foot – this while the Marines are carrying 60 or 70 pounds of equipment on their backs – but they can't even fire warning shots from their M-16s, much less lethal ones, to try to make them stop.

[AustinBill]

Once again the wisdom of the founding fathers becomes apparent in hindsight. The reason Congress was given exclusive power to declare war is the reason presidents in the post-WW II era have never asked for it: It requires the unified will of the country to declare war. This is hard to obtain. But without such unity there can be no national will to wage war, and hence modern "wars" quickly devolve into these sort of "police actions".

[gunnyg]

Must Read-ROE-Col Sully....
http://www.network54.com/Forum/135069/message/1156615985/GyG%27sMailbag-+Re+Must+Read+%28ROE%29
http://www.network54.com/Forum/135069/message/1156615985/GyG%27sMailbag-+Re+Must+Read+%28ROE%29