Time to withdraw from Afghanistan?

Vietnam II?

Have we already forgotten the lessons of Vietnam?

The unseen hands of the administration are setting the rules of engagement and telling the military how to fight the war.

No surprise that Commander-in-chief Obama has handpicked his generals and they are following his marching orders.

The FBI will be releasing Terrorist if rights were not read. Yes, Terrorist outside the USA now have rights and they must be read to them, just like you've see on Law & Order!

If civilians are nearby, no gun play allowed (without permission, if you can get it)!

We will see Americans and military members from other countries killed by terrorist who escaped capture or death because of the rules set in place by the administration.

How long will it be before we read that an officer or Sergeant has been relieved of duty because a civilian was shot or killed during a firefight with terrorist and permission was not sought before hand for permission to engage.

If I was bad guy, the first thing I would do is kidnap a few civilians and make them be with me at all times. No fear of being killed by the good guys, as by time they received permission to shoot, I would be long gone! The second thing I would do is to make sure I had a good American civil rights attorney on retainer, someone recommended by the ACLU.

Time to send the boys (and girls) home before the administration gets them killed...

A hard-charging Ranger special operations officer, Lt. General Stanley McChrystal, was purposely named to be commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR). He had express orders to push forward vigorously against the Taliban. Virtually immediately after this hand-picked warrior assumed command, he received new instructions from the White House via the Pentagon to avoid civilian casualties at all costs. If a firefight appears to be expanding so as to endanger "resident non-combatants," the engagement must be broken off. Air attacks must be limited to targets of strictly confirmed hostile character, with no civilian co-mingling.

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.

KABUL — Canadian commanders in Afghanistan received new fighting orders on Thursday which will prevent their troops from shooting at the Taliban if there is any risk of civilian casualties, even if it means allowing the enemy to escape.

The stricter rules of engagement were laid down in a "tactical directive" sent to all foreign forces in Afghanistan by U.S. army Gen. Stanley McChrystal who was President Barack Obama's recent choice to take over the NATO-led war here.

(CNSNews.com) – The Justice Department confirmed last week that FBI agents in Afghanistan are reading Miranda warnings to suspected terrorists captured there, a practice that Republican congressmen this week branded as "crazy" and "stupid."

Miranda warnings were mandated by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said domestic law enforcement agencies must inform criminal suspects arrested in the United States of their rights under the 5th Amendment.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," says the typical Miranda warning. "You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?"

The Obama administration's decision to make this statement to terror suspects captured on the battlefield in a foreign country has sparked outrage among several Republicans in Congress who spoke with CNSNews.com. It also contradicts what President Barack Obama said in March, when he indicated that Miranda rights did not apply to terror suspects captured overseas

UPDATE

July 19, 2009: The U.S. Marine advance into Helmand province is being slowed down by the new Rules Of Engagement (ROE), which forbid the use of bombs or missiles in any situation where there might be civilians. The Taliban will typically spend the night, or longer, in a village or walled compound, and that's where U.S. troops will typically trap them. But bombs and missiles cannot be used on these places, so U.S. troops have to besiege the place, or just move on, leaving the Taliban alone.

UPDATE

USA TODAY - Sep 9, 2009

Airstrikes by coalition forces in Afghanistan have dropped dramatically in the three months Gen. Stanley McChrystal has led the war effort there, reflecting his new emphasis on avoiding civilian casualties and protecting the population.

NATO fixed-wing aircraft dropped 1,211 bombs and other munitions during the past three months — the peak of the fighting season — compared with 2,366 during the same period last year, according to military statistics. The nearly 50% decline in airstrikes comes with an influx of more than 20,000 U.S. troops this year and an increase in insurgent attacks.

The shift is the result of McChrystal's new directives, said Air Force Col. Mark Waite, an official at the air operations center in southwest Asia. Ground troops are less inclined to call for bombing or strafing runs, though they often have an aircraft conduct a "show of force," a flyby to scare off insurgents, or use planes for surveillance, Waite said.

U.S. forces have been told to exercise extreme caution before ordering airstrikes.

By exercising so much restraint, the U.S. military may sacrifice a key firepower advantage on the battlefield and expose ground troops to more risk, some officers and analysts say.

"There is a tradeoff," said Col. Gian Gentile, a former battalion commander in Iraq who has publicly criticized counterinsurgency doctrine. "You reduce civilian casualties, but you potentially increase your own casualties."

Doug Macgregor, a retired Army colonel and military historian, says the emphasis on having conventional forces trying to win over the population is futile.

"You surrender whatever military advantage you have by compelling the U.S. conventional soldier or Marine to fight on terms that favor the enemy, not the American soldier or Marine," Macgregor said.


UPDATE

Nevada Appeal - Sep 11, 2009

While waiting for the helicopters to arrive, “U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines despite being told repeatedly that they weren't near the village.”

This over-lawyering of war has to stop. American Marines and soldiers are dying needlessly because of it. If we're not going to let our military do the job our nation has trained them and sent them to do, then they shouldn't be sent in the first place. Either take the handcuffs off and let them fight, or bring them home alive instead of in a box.

Enough is enough.