Under Obama, Rules of Engagement in Afghan War Are Extreme Political Correctness Which Slow Down US Troops

Under the Obama Administration, the rules of engagement in the Afghan War are extreme political correctness, and this has brought well-earned criticism of the military's prosecution of the Afghan War from a very decorated source, Major General Robert Scales. Imagine if you're a Marine in Afghanistan, charged with fighting terrorists, yet you can't shoot at Taliban terrorists unless you see them actually holding weapons in their hands! If the Taliban terrorists only temporarily put their arms down, Marines are forbidden from shooting at them! Imagine that you also can't treat the captured terrorists "roughly"-as in using "harsh" language against them that may hurt their little, wittle, terrorist feelings-and that you must release your terrorist foe after 96 hours if you don't hand them over to the Afghan police. Think this is a bad dream, a cruel joke or simply a liberal's wildest fantasy come true? Think again, for this is actual war policy going on in Afghanistan right now under Obama.

Marines currently in action in Marja, Afghanistan, have a whole new issue to cope with in addition to making sure they don't get killed by the terrorist enemy: way over-the-top political correctness that seems obsessed with giving more insane protections to the Taliban enemy than making sure the Marines can actually fight effectively against them. In recent days, only Fox News Channel has even shown the least bit of uproar about this disturbing code of political correctness the Marines are being made to "fight" under while the LA Times and the AP-for all their liberal partisanship-at least reported on these overly restrictive rules of engagement. Though they seemed to think it was alright while FNC was the only source to show some shock at these rules.

Retired Major General Scales appeared on Fox News Channel earlier this week to correctly make the long-overdue point that the rules of engagement under Obama are "overly restrictive" and that they go too far; apparently, Scales isn't the only one in the military ranks to echo this increased and rightful griping among the military. Indeed, according to the AP even, some troops in Afghanistan are going to lengths to make the unconventional decision of openly criticizing the rules of engagement under Obama. Take Lance Cpl. Travis Anderson who says that the Taliban are "using our rules of engagement against us." Think he's a flake and just full of it? Alright, how about Lance Cpl. Michael Andrejczuk who said, "This is difficult," in reference to the overly restrictive rules of engagement in place under Obama? Still think these guys don't know anything? Well, how about asking Capt. Joshua Winfrey who said, "The problem is isolating where the enemy is," a further reference to the problems caused by these rules.

The undeniable predicament with these rules of engagement under Obama even caught the attention of FNC's political beltway show, Special Report, whose "all-star" panel even weighed in on the issue with the concern, understandably, being that these rules of engagement shouldn't dilapidate into something they originally weren't intended to. As in, though the thinking behind these rules may've been not to "upset" or "anger" any more of the local Muslim population (when has a local Muslim population, by the way, ever been not angry or upset at the US for every little thing?), the real danger is that political correctness will totally hijack them and utterly cripple the Marines from fighting effectively.

It most certainly is not coincidence by any means that the rules of engagement now in Afghanistan are so wimpy and insanely designed not to "offend" the all-important sensibilities of the Muslim world instead of supporting what they should: allowing US Marines all the leeway they need to do their job of killing the terrorist enemy in the most effective way possible. You will recall that under Obama, an almost treasonous emphasis has been put on apologizing to the Arab world and "reaching out to them" at the expense of US self-interest. It is not any wonder then that this is just more par for the course for an administration that is fanatically devoted to the discreditable ideology of trying to "make nice" with the enemy even if it doesn't serve the US' purposes.

When even hardcore and committed, liberal outlets like the LA Times and the AP start reporting on the US troops' rightful gripes about the rules of engagement under Obama, as well as their overall excessive restrictiveness, then you know there's a real problem that just shouldn't be.

To send Marc questions, praise or criticism, you can email him at marc_schenker@telus.net

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Sources:

Tony Perry, In Afghanistan, Marines handling detainees by the book, LA Times

Rules of Engagement for Afghanistan, FoxNews.com

Alfred de Montesquiou, Some troops say strict rules of engagement slow their advance on Taliban stronghold, LA Times

Special Report, More Afghanistan Rules of War, FoxNews.com

Star Parker, Obama apologizes to the world, WND.com

Obama in Egypt reaches out to Muslim world, CNN.com