Rules of Engagement was Re: [extropy-chat] Re: Meta: Too far

[Brett Paatsch]

The Avantguardian wrote:

> --- Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:
> 
>> Do you believe this in the only type of people our
>> military forces are firing at, bombing and so on?
>> 
> I can guarantee you that those are the only type of
> people our military is purposely firing at or bombing.

I understand chain of command, I understand, I think,
the concept of rules of engagement,  I'd be inclined
to agree that in the overwhelming majority the men
and women in the US armed services would try to 
conduct themselves appropriately even under stress,
and I get that the military is a collective term, an
aggregation, that averages out the actions of individuals
so I get that there is a sense in which one could generalise
and say our military. 

But how can *you* guarantee it Stuart? What does 
your *guarantee* mean in this context?

Is it a legal term? Are you promising Samantha or others
that if the military fires at, or bombs  people that you 
personally will make good on any loss?

> In any conflict involving U.S. troops, rules of
> engagement are very clearly spelled out, flash cards
> summarizing them are issued, and violations are taken
> very seriously.

In any? ;-)  That is truly a magnificent accomplishment.
Perhaps the military should be running all aspects of 
government and management then, if they have reached
such sophistication in anticipation and education.

> These rules explicitly spell out
> exactly when and how a soldier is allowed to fire or
> return fire on an enemy. Typically such rules are
> mission specific. I do not know the specific ROE in
> Iraq right now but in Panama they were something like:
> Do not fire unless fired upon. Make sure you can
> clearly identify and see the target before firing.
> Fire only single shots or controlled bursts and do not
> spray fire at hidden targets. These rules are clearly
> designed to minimize civillian casualties. Especially
> since the PDF (Panamanian Defense Force) was known to
> drag women and children out into the jungle with them
> during ambushes. All in the hopes that we would
> accidently shoot one of them and make ourselves look
> bad.    

Perhaps the US Constitition and the UN Charter should
be relabelled and called the US Rules of Engagement
and the UN Rules of Engagement.  ;-)

Brett Paatsch