Damned if you do, Damned if you don't.

CAPBOY · Post by **CAPBOY** » Sep 13th, '06, 07:46

September 13, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - Taliban terror leaders who had gathered for a funeral - and were secretly being watched by an eye-in-the-sky American drone - dodged assassination because U.S. rules of engagement bar attacks in cemeteries, according to a shocking report.
U.S. intelligence officers in Afghanistan are still fuming about the recent lost opportunity for an easy kill of Taliban honchos packed in tight formation for the burial, NBC News reported.

The unmanned airplane, circling undetected high overhead, fed a continuous satellite feed of the juicy target to officers on the ground.

"We were so excited. I came rushing in with the picture," one U.S. Army officer told NBC.

But that excitement quickly turned to gut-wrenching frustration because the rules of engagement on the ground in Afghanistan blocked the U.S. from mounting a missile or bomb strike in a cemetery, according to the report.

Pentagon officials declined comment and referred The Post to Central Command officers in Afghanistan, who did not respond to a request for comment or explanation.

Agonizingly, Army officers could do nothing but watch the pictures being fed back from the drone as the Taliban splintered into tiny groups - too small to effectively target with the drone - and headed back to their mountainside hideouts.

Military experts told The Post that rules of engagement are constantly adjusted on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, depending on the severity of the threat posed by the enemy.

In Iraq, gun battles have raged inside cemeteries in Fallujah, and once-off-limits mosques are now subject to U.S. searches.

The lost opportunity in Afghanistan came amid a spike in Taliban activity in Afghanistan - a craggy country roughly the size of Texas that poses problems for U.S. troops hunting fighters in remote mountain areas.

Taliban militants have launched their deadliest attacks since the terrorist regime was toppled by U.S.-led forces in late 2001 for providing a sanctuary for Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda camps.

U.S. troops and NATO allies recently reclaimed territory in southern Afghanistan from Taliban fighters following a bloody 11-day operation.

NATO leaders announced yesterday the hard fighting killed at least 510 Taliban insurgents.

And American and Afghan forces stormed a fortified compound in the Wardak province to arrest a dozen Taliban leaders who were planning a new wave of attacks.

"Five years ago, the Afghan national army was zero," Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, who heads the training of Afghan soldiers and police, told CNN.

"We now have sufficient forces - that's why there is some tough fighting down in Kandahar."

XtremeJibber2001 · Post by **XtremeJibber2001** » Sep 13th, '06, 07:51

Our laws are what gives these slobs the upper-hand/

CAPBOY · Post by **CAPBOY** » Sep 13th, '06, 08:08

XtremeJibber2001 wrote:Our laws are what gives these slobs the upper-hand/

yeah, but imagine the outcry if we made a strike.

ski_adk · Post by **ski_adk** » Sep 13th, '06, 08:11

Isn't it our laws that make us better than these people?

CAPBOY · Post by **CAPBOY** » Sep 13th, '06, 08:21

ski_adk wrote:Isn't it our laws that make us better than these people?

I'd like to think that it goes deeper than the laws.

XtremeJibber2001 · Post by **XtremeJibber2001** » Sep 13th, '06, 08:25

CAPBOY wrote:
ski_adk wrote:Isn't it our laws that make us better than these people?
I'd like to think that it goes deeper than the laws.

Yes on both accounts. I'm not sure how I'd feel if we had made the strike. I try to consider the outcry I'd have had Iran or some other nation bombed a funeral within my family ... I'd be outraged.

I guess putting it that way makes it more understandable. However, fighting against an enemy that doesn't provide us the same courtesy(ies) urges me to say 'f*** it, lets blow them up and who care where they are or what they're doing'. Ethically I slant the other way.

St. Jerry · Post by **St. Jerry** » Sep 13th, '06, 08:34

Our laws suck. It's really not fair. We should be able to just smoke-out the evil doers where ever they may be.

ski_adk · Post by **ski_adk** » Sep 13th, '06, 08:38

Of course it's deeper than just our laws. It's our belief in justice, our sense that all men are created equal, and our sincere support of freedom that makes us special. If they attacked our forces at a funeral, we'd consider them abhorrent monsters and more of our countrymen would rally in defiance to such actions. Do you think that if it was the other way around, that we'd suddenly look like valourous knights in shining armor?

edit: Damnit XJ, you made the same point and beat me to the submit button.

XtremeJibber2001 · Post by **XtremeJibber2001** » Sep 13th, '06, 08:41

ski_adk wrote:Of course it's deeper than just our laws. It's our belief in justice, our sense that all men are created equal, and our sincere support of freedom that makes us special. If they attacked our forces at a funeral, we'd consider them abhorrent monsters and more of our countrymen would rally in defiance to such actions. Do you think that if it was the other way around, that we'd suddenly look like valourous knights in shining armor?

edit: Damnit XJ, you made the same point and beat me to the submit button.

I may have, but you've written your explanation much better than I.

edit: I'd also like to add there aren't many times I beat anyone to a point

BigKahuna13 · Post by **BigKahuna13** » Sep 13th, '06, 10:02

XtremeJibber2001 wrote:Our laws are what gives these slobs the upper-hand/

Actually Rules of Engagement are set down by the military leadership
or the civilian leaders of the military and have more to do with some military (or civilian imposed) objective than with our laws.

Given the administration's relative lack of restraint in this war, I'd guess there's probably a really good reason that cemetaries are off limits.

yeti · Post by **yeti** » Sep 13th, '06, 10:18

Dust them with tritium and then track them.

BigKahuna13 · Post by **BigKahuna13** » Sep 13th, '06, 10:41

yeti wrote:Dust them with tritium and then track them.

Nice! Actually I'm wondering why the drone couldn't track the highest value target after they left and then take care of him afterwards.

and btw, I wouldn't be surprised if our allies in Kabul had a large hand in shaping the rules of engagement that we're following.

ski_adk · Post by **ski_adk** » Sep 13th, '06, 12:03

Also, it should be noted that military leaders in the past -- especially high-ranking ones -- are usually afforded a bit of respect and aren't necessarily sought out to be killed outright. Traditionally, the goals is to capture the leaders, put them on trial and then put them to death.

XtremeJibber2001 · Post by **XtremeJibber2001** » Sep 13th, '06, 13:03

ski_adk wrote:Also, it should be noted that military leaders in the past -- especially high-ranking ones -- are usually afforded a bit of respect and aren't necessarily sought out to be killed outright. Traditionally, the goals is to capture the leaders, put them on trial and then put them to death.

Perhaps in our view that's the case ... I just finished 'Beyond Band of Brothers" by Major Dick Winters ... he always 'popped' his collar so the Germans wouldn't know who he was; otherwise, snipers would kill him first.