January 29, 2008: One of the biggest gripes combat troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan have is the Escalation of Force (EOF) and Rules of
Engagement (ROE) procedures they must follow when faced with enemy action, or
the threat of enemy action. These rules have gotten more complex year by year,
although there have been some attempts to simplify the complications (if that
makes any sense.) Put simply, the ROE/EOF stuff is there to limit civilian
casualties, while fighting a foe that wants dead civilians (for their
propaganda impact). Al Qaeda even has an official name for this; "involuntary
martyrs." The U.S. buzzword is "collateral damage."
Naturally, there's a big difference
between the ROE/EOF stuff that is regularly delivered to the troops (who are
supposed to demonstrate that they have memorized them), and what actually
happens in combat. For all the ROE/EOF exhortations directed at the troops,
there is also an escape clause. That is, you are always allowed to use any
force necessary to protect yourselves. This does not negate ROE/EOF, and if you
kill a bunch of civilians, there will be an investigation. If you cannot make
some kind of case that you fired in (what appeared to you at the time to be)
self-defense, you will get punished. The troops know this, the brass know this.
No one is sure if the lawyers, who are sometimes brought in to help out with
the periodic ROE/EOF training sessions, know this. Lawyers are generally
considered the enemy, since they tend to spend most of their time telling you
what you cannot do in combat (whether you're fighting for your life or not.)
Troops who have spent more than a year
in Iraq or Afghanistan have come to believe that the biggest problem with
ROE/EOF is that the people who create this stuff have done a very bad job of
explaining the cause and effect of it all. While the troops can understand
that, "killing civilians" is usually counterproductive, the brass rarely go to
any great lengths to explain the thinking behind the long list of ROE/EOF
things you can, or cannot, do. There is
a belief that the ROE/EOF is not well thought out, and the lawyers are sent in
to lecture the troops in an attempt to hide that fact. Definitely a credibility
gap here.
