FIRST, KILL ALL THE LAWYERS!

Shakespeare, as usual, said it all. I've given examples, and complained of rules of engagement for our armed forces that are dangerous, and even worse, are causing our soldiers to fight an inefficient war. Killing is normal in war. That's why it's called War, and not Policing. The enemy wants to kill us. That includes you, your wife, children, neighbors....anybody you love...they're us. The killers are them. There's a difference. Duh!

Defense officials tell us one of the rules of engagement for U.S. combat troops in Iraq is vague and written by lawyers with little or no battle experience. The result is that troops are at risk of getting killed in action because of military lawyers' penchant for ambiguity.
One troubling rule that is among several printed on the card given to troops going into combat is "use minimum force necessary to decisively eliminate the threat." It is viewed by many in the military as ambiguous and confusing.

"Does it mean you are obligated to wrestle with a threat rather than shoot him or her?" one defense official asked. "That is how a lot of police officers lose their lives each year, as the criminal gains control of the police officer's firearm. How about approaching and/or wrestling a threat who, it turns out, is a homicide bomber?"

Bottom line: There is no way in law to define "minimum deadly force," the official said.

It is not known whether the imprecise rules directly led to the deaths in action of U.S. troops in Iraq, but some say it is likely because the rules are overly cautious and vague, an apparent outgrowth of destructive political correctness applied to war.

"A major part of the problem is that military commanders have surrendered their responsibility for ROE [rules of engagement] preparation and approval to lawyers lacking the knowledge, training and experience to prepare ROE. Unsure of themselves, they err to caution and ambiguity," the official said.

The President has the power to change this...to order it changed. A lot of mistakes are made in War. It's unreasonable to expect otherwise, but fighting a minimalist war against a maximalist enemy is suicide. That's a nice word for criminally insane, when it results from worrying about what our "friends" in the U.N. and elsewhere will think. Those bastards won't credit us with goodness, ever. So fuckem. In the event they ever get to fight their own war, let them worry about being nice to their murderers.