In my opinion, a soldier in theater should be able to kill just about anyone that seems to be a threat to him, his mission, or materials of our troops or allies. As a matter of fact a soldier needs to have PROVEN by testimony of many witnesses, of high character to have committed HEINOUS ACTS, before the commanders or even his immediate superiors take it seriously, not accusations of the enemy. Things are really bad in the military, and getting worse all the time. 0bama may be the first CIC that will put our troops in the field and place them so they have the optimum chance of losing the overall objective. I just see that as a continuum of events started as early as WW II. Eisenhower himself slowed the progress of victory in Europe, by holding back his best generals, to soothe the feelings of another. Truman would not allow McCarthur to fight for a conclusion in Korea. Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, took it a step further, and would not allow our side to destroy the bases of operation in N Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos. Preferring instead to allow the enemy to bivouac and rearm in a neutral setting, then waiting for the fresh troops to kill many men that would have lived if only we had used maximum effort. Bush I, too stopped short for political goals....now this poltroon.
Sorry for the length, but it is a passion of mine. I gave quite a few dollars to the defense of Chessani, who is still in the process of being railroaded for something the has been proven NOT to be a crime, plus he wasn't even involved. This new case, probably not the latest, quite frankly makes me want to cry. When the troops become political pawns, and have no real hope of victory, you have to ask yourself WHY?. The Demonrats are intent of breaking our military, of that I have no doubt. Maybe they will be so weak, as to be no threat to 0's "civilian force, as big as the military and just as well funded" when this is all done.
So can we agree that what we see in the military today is not something dreamed up and concocted by former President Bush, but is a cumulative effect of decades of creeping political correctness?