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/
Thanks. I can’t believe that the ROE exist in a vacuum (that is, just created by the commander on the ground without any political policy behind them), and looking at his background, it’s hard to imagine that he would have done this unless the directives came from elsewhere.
If this is true, I wouldn’t be surprised if McChrystal resigned; possibly he has refrained from doing so because he is afraid it would be demoralizing, but the whole thing is demoralizing.
I think he may be one of those people who is willing himself to believe that Obama is a “normal” CIC who really does care about the troops and cares about winning. To admit otherwise, for a military man in charge of these troops, would be devastating. But I strongly suspect that after a certain point, it’s going to be impossible to deny the truth.
Obama wants us to lose, and he doesn’t care how many of our young people he has to sacrifice to do this. I personally think he doesn’t like most people in the military, anyway, and he really doesn’t care about tossing them out there and letting enough of them be killed for no reason so that the clamor will build for us to leave Afghanistan to the Taliban. This is a very, very disturbing thought, and I hope I’m wrong.