Rules of Engagement-are we unnecessarily putting our troops in harm's way

[futurebeachbum]

The decision to invade Iraq was the single biggest foreign policy blunder in the history of the United States.

The really sad thing is that Bush Sr. understood why we didn't want to go into Iraq.

Iraq /was/ the cork in the bottle that contained Iran and all of their big talk about WMD was mainly directed at Iran.

Bush Jr. screwed that all up,

Then we took the only guy who knew how to hold the country together and maintain that corking position and hung him.

A true Neocon, make the world safe for democracy disaster.

 

[scooterbug44]

Andy, I agree with you 100% - frankly I would like us to just realize it's a war and let the troops open up a can of whiparse and win the damn thing.

Not saying we should ignore Geneva convention etc. but war is not full of manners and policy - it's ugly situations and I for one know and accept that collateral damage is a part of that - especially when fighting a guerrilla war.

 

[Lake View Too]

Andy, I agree with you 100% - frankly I would like us to just realize it's a war and let the troops open up a can of whiparse and win the damn thing.

Not saying we should ignore Geneva convention etc. but war is not full of manners and policy - it's ugly situations and I for one know and accept that collateral damage is a part of that - especially when fighting a guerrilla war.

How can you open up a can of whooparse when the enemy looks just like the friendlies? Every time you kill an innocent, you create more militants. The whole dilemna is that we went in trying to fight an anti-terrorist war and now we are in the middle of an insurgency, in which trying to win the hearts and minds of the populace (in order to get adequate intelligence) is every bit as important as killing the bad guys. We need to get out, and put all our efforts into keeping Pakistan on our side.

 

[scooterbug44]

Our troops are hamstrung and restricted, theirs are not. All I am saying is let them do their job and not think we can fight a war w/o some casualities.

 

[Here4Good]

"They" don't have troops.

 

[Lake View Too]

If you blew up my sister with a Predator drone, do you think I would help you, or help the Taliban kill you. It's as simple as that.

 

[scooterbug44]

Sorry, what do you want me to call the organized group of resistance fighters trained, financed, recruited, and armed by one group? :roll:

 

[Lake View Too]

Sorry, what do you want me to call the organized group of resistance fighters trained, financed, recruited, and armed by one group? :roll:

I've always wondered about how the Taliban is supplied, with arms, as well as food, and other supplies. I suspect that a great deal of the population of Afghan supports the Taliban, either out of fear, or simply the fact that they view the Taliban as the lesser of two evils (the US armed forces occupying their country being the worse of the two evils). They (the general population) probably feel they can deal with the Taliban better than they can deal with the US Army. We already have a history of deserting them.

 

[DuneAHH]

At minimum, 100 years of recent history demonstrates that the "powers" of England, Russia, and now America have been unsuccessful in attempts to tame/bend/remake/reform Afghanistan to their Will.

None of these 3 "powers" have proven victorious over these "simple-backward-savage" (yea right) people... not by any classic definition of the word or
"complex-advanced-civilized" (yea right) method.

How long will it take us to get over ourselves enough to let these people be? How long before we evolve enough to utterly and completely reframe/redefine the entire concept of "Victory"?

Rewriting or modifying long outdated "rules of engagement" is like slapping fresh bandaids on a dead thing in hopes of bringing it back to life.

I submit: Time to throw the baby out with the bathwater. DIS-engage.

 

[scooterbug44]

I know about 10% of them are Taliban and the rest are locals who have joined them for personal reasons - like a dead relative.

They plan to wait us out (the US has the watches, the Taliban have the time) - and in the meantime those who have the means are preparing to leave so they do not have to live under a new Taliban regime.