This may seem like a rant, but its not, so bear with me.
Last night i went to visit my cousin before he went back home to Michigan.
My cousin just returned from a Military hospital in Germany. For Chirstmas last year, we sent him a small 'bullet camera' so he could record what it was like. He taped it to his helmet. He was in a HMMVEE on a patrol in Northern Iraq. An IED, a big one, went off about 20 feet from the car, flipping the HMMVEE upside down, ejecting all the passengers some distance behind the blast zone. We know this because the camera on his helmet was rolling, and his helmet was thrown off to the side of the road, facing a severely injured soldier. At this point in the video, something happens that suprised me. Armed insurgents shoot the severely injured soldier.
Let me rephrase that last sentence. Armed insurgents EXECUTED that kid. At this point in the video, i started crying. I thought of what was going through that soldiers mind; My leg is full of shrapnel, I still has shellshock, and someone runs up to me and shoots me in the head with an AK-47, while i am injured.
This video caused me to question one of the most important rules of the Armed Forces, the Rules of Engagement. These rules were concieved in the time that "civilized warfare" was still used. Organized armies used tactics to defeat one another, and for the most part, both sides followed some universal rules.
your thoughts?
Last night i went to visit my cousin before he went back home to Michigan.
My cousin just returned from a Military hospital in Germany. For Chirstmas last year, we sent him a small 'bullet camera' so he could record what it was like. He taped it to his helmet. He was in a HMMVEE on a patrol in Northern Iraq. An IED, a big one, went off about 20 feet from the car, flipping the HMMVEE upside down, ejecting all the passengers some distance behind the blast zone. We know this because the camera on his helmet was rolling, and his helmet was thrown off to the side of the road, facing a severely injured soldier. At this point in the video, something happens that suprised me. Armed insurgents shoot the severely injured soldier.
Let me rephrase that last sentence. Armed insurgents EXECUTED that kid. At this point in the video, i started crying. I thought of what was going through that soldiers mind; My leg is full of shrapnel, I still has shellshock, and someone runs up to me and shoots me in the head with an AK-47, while i am injured.
This video caused me to question one of the most important rules of the Armed Forces, the Rules of Engagement. These rules were concieved in the time that "civilized warfare" was still used. Organized armies used tactics to defeat one another, and for the most part, both sides followed some universal rules.
There is a problem with these rules now. The enemy of today is a ghost. They hide in crowds, in churches, in schools. They give no clemency to the injured or captured. I mean for god sakes, a man surrenders under the white flag, and then detonates himself when he is detained. I think the Military has yet to realize that the enemy of tomorrow doesnt have rules for fighting, they will always shoot first, and there will always be an enemy.The ROE deal with four issues:
* When military force may be used,
* Where military force may be used,
* Against whom force should be used in the circumstances described above, and
* How military force should be used to achieve the desired ends.
The ROE take two forms: Actions a soldier may take without consulting a higher authority, unless explicitly forbidden (sometimes called 'command by negation') and second, actions that may only be taken if explicitly ordered by a higher authority (sometimes called 'positive command').
In addition to a typically large set of standing orders, military personnel will be given additional rules of engagement before performing any mission or military operation. These can cover circumstances such as how to retaliate after an attack, how to treat captured targets, which territories the soldier is bound to fight into, and how the force should be used during the operation.
your thoughts?