Gen. David Petraeus when he took command told congress that he would revise the ROE. That was months ago. Even he is caught in the tar of politics.
I am one that recognizes the consequences of the US withdrawing from the region and would prefer that we get the job done right, but if this is how our leaders think the job gets done, we need to get the hell out now.
We had the political capital to go into Afghanistan and get the job done right. Our leaders lacked the testicular fortitude even then. We had the power when this war started to have every Afghan, Taliban and those in Waziristan, pissing down their legs and begging for mercy inside of a few years. It would have been ugly for a few years but it would be over.
Instead our political leaders chose to try and fight a cleaner war (oxymoron). Yes we could be the nice warriors. Instead our enemies exploit our weakness. We have allowed a corrupt government to form in Afghanistan. One that the locals despise.
Our leaders need to get off their asses and make some tough decisions and now.
I cited two articles. You can read them in full but here are some excerpts.
What complete fool came up with this??? They ought to hall his ass out to the battlefield give him a weapon (if he is man enough to carry one) and see if he feels the immediate need to fire back. Someone needs to save our kids from the hands of these fools. I'll put my life on the line, as would my young sons who are soon to reach fighting age, but not under these rules."If they use rockets to hit the [forward operating base] we can't shoot back because they were within 500 meters of the village. If they shoot at us and drop their weapon in the process we can't shoot back," said Spc. Charles Brooks, 26, a U.S. Army medic with 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, in Zabul province.
Word had come down the morning Brooks spoke to this reporter that watch towers surrounding the base were going to be dismantled because Afghan village elders, some sympathetic to the Taliban, complained they were invading their village privacy. "We have to take down our towers because it offends them and now the Taliban can set up mortars and we can't see them," Brooks added, with disgust
I'm with you brother. I don't know what this is either. Its definitely no path to victory."I don't think the military leaders, president or anybody really cares about what we're going through," said Spc. Matthew "Silver" Fuhrken, 25, from Watertown, N.Y. "I'm sick of people trying to cover up what's really going on over here. They won't let us do our job. I don't care if they try to kick me out for what I'm saying -- war is war and this is no war. I don't know what this is."
I hope we can get some leaders in place that have the balls to finish this.To the soldiers and Marines risking their lives in Afghanistan, restrictions on their ability to aggressively attack the Taliban have led to another enormous frustration stalking morale: the fear that the Karzai government, with the prodding of the administration of President Obama, will negotiate a peace with the Taliban that wastes all the sacrifices by the U.S. here. Those fears intensified when news reached the enlisted ranks that the Karzai government, with the backing of senior Obama officials, was entering a new round of negotiations with the Taliban.
"If we walk away, cut a deal with the Taliban, desert the people who needed us most, then this war was pointless," said Pvt. Jeffrey Ward, with 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, who is stationed at Forward Operating Base Bullard in southern Afghanistan.
"Everyone dies for their own reasons but it's sad to think that our friends, the troops, have given their lives for something we're not going to see through."
Other soldiers agreed. They said they feared few officials in the Pentagon understand the reality on the ground.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Troops-chafe-at-restrictive-rules-of-engagement_-talks-with-Taliban-1226055-105202284.html
http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/66392.html
