Following source from World Net Daily article:
"The actual ROEs are said to be classified U.S. and NATO secrets, but based on individual soldier accounts, those restrictions include the following:
- No night or surprise searches
- Villagers are to be warned prior to searches
- Afghan National Army, or ANA, or Afghan National Police, or ANP, must accompany U.S. units on searches
- U.S. soldiers may not fire at insurgents unless they are preparing to fire first
- U.S. forces cannot engage insurgents if civilians are present
- Only women can search women
- Troops can fire on insurgents if they catch them placing an IED but not if insurgents walk away from where the explosives are.
Often, rules of engagement require varying levels of approvals before action can be taken. In one case, villagers had tipped off U.S. forces of the presence of a Taliban commander who was threatening village elders.
To get permission to go after him, U.S. troops had to get 11 separate Afghan, U.S. and international forces' approval to the plan. The approval, however, did not come until well into the next day. By then, the Taliban commander had moved on, to the consternation of the villagers who had provided the tip. Observers have claimed that it can take some 96 hours to acquire all the permissions to act."
The base of this blog posting on B.E.V. today is the reaction to the story of 3 German Soldiers who were killed in a fire fight with over 200 Taliban terrorist. But if you were to read the leftist media online, all the headlines blaze "German friendly fire kills Afghan soldiers", spinning the thought that it was all the German Military's fault of these deaths. But as always in today's society, the leftist Governments and leftist main stream media are spinning the stories to favor the Taliban, terrorist, leftist socialist cause. And the soldiers of the Western Nations die.
When this fire fight first started, the German soldiers and what ANA support they had, could not fire back since the Muslim coward Taliban were hiding behind women and children as they always do. They were shooting from roof tops and out of windows of homes occupied by 'civilians'....the same civilians you see in the photos above standing next to the 21st Century example of Germany's Armed Forces.
The major change happened around the 23rd of June, 2009 (Obama's first year) when Gen. McChrystal took over:
The U.S. commander in Afghanistan will soon order U.S. and NATO forces to break away from fights with militants hiding among villagers, an official said Monday, announcing one of the strongest measures yet to protect Afghan civilians."
The most contentious civilian casualty cases in recent years occurred during battles in Afghan villages when U.S. airstrikes aimed at militants also killed civilians. American commanders say such deaths hurt their mission because they turn average Afghans against the government and international forces …
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who took command of international forces in Afghanistan this month, has said his measure of effectiveness will be the “number of Afghans shielded from violence” — not the number of militants killed.
McChrystal will issue orders within days saying troops may attack insurgents hiding in Afghan houses if U.S. or NATO forces are in imminent danger, said U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Greg Smith.
Gen. McChrystal was Barack Obama's hand chosen pick to take over as the overall Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Being a good soldier, he received his orders from his superiors, which at the top of that chain, lays Barack H. Obama, who know doubt, had to 'order' these changes to take place. ROE has was last updated in 2000 and has not seen any change until this past year, when.....O BA MA is the sitting President.
Numerous blogs, just do a search, 'rules of engagement in Afghanistan', and you will get many other blogs, news stories about this very topic that has put US/NATO military lives in direct danger....purposefully. All the while, O BA MA is doing stand up comedy routines 'campaigning' to be President again in 2012 and for the Health Care 'Law', just laughing life up as U.S/NATO soldiers get wounded and killed.
As long as 'we' are worried about civilian casualties in a time of war, our soldiers will needlessly die, thanks to socialist, leftist politicians and their media mouth pieces. Remember that when they stop to shake your hand, or want to interview you for their network/paper.
p.s. As a comparison to how a military unit can either achieve victory or defeat:
German Army
German Airborne prior to embarking to Crete 1941.
In this Feb. 18, 2010 file picture soldiers of the 31st Airborne Brigade are pictured during their farewell muster at the barracks in Seedorf, northern Germany.
Were their grandfathers better soldiers since they accomplished their mission and fought war like a war? Or are these soldiers like U.S. soldiers, just as good, but with their hands tied by political cowards-leftist who don't care when their Nation's soldiers live or die.