It’s still not entirely clear to me who makes these ROE. I realize that the commander announces them and obviously defines them in a specific sense, but where do the general strategies and guidelines originate?
McChrystal actually does seem to care about his troops and it’s hard for me to imagine that out of the clear blue, he would just decide on ROE that he had to know would result in more of them getting killed.
I see some people blaming him solely for this, and maybe the blame is his alone, but it doesn’t make sense that he would do this.
Yep, it doesn’t make sense. At a point, McChrystal needs to do what he thinks is right for the Troops under his command, which probably is going to get him fired under Øcarter, but you got to do your very best no matter who is CIC as Troops are in a War zone
McChrystal is the one who changed them- but I’m unable to find if this was at the directive of the CIC or his own idea.
Fascinating discussion with links here:
http://www.captainsjournal.com/2009/06/23/changes-to-the-rules-of-engagement-for-afghanistan/
Obama changed the ROE. He told us he would do exactly that, so we would no longer be--in his words--"just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there".
How soon people forget.