Marine Times
Posted : Friday Sep 17, 2010 16:18:23 EDT
The House Armed Services Committee will soon examine the rules of engagement used by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Military Times haslearned.
The classified, full-committee briefing will cover tactical directives that limit how and when NATO troops in Afghanistancan use force, according to a letter sent by Rep. Ike Skelton, D.-Mo.,chairman of the committee, to three House members who worried the ROEcurrently in place may restrict troops from defending themselves.
The briefing has not yet been scheduled, but staff is “working on lockingdown a date,” committee spokeswoman Jennifer Kohl said Wednesday.
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., first called for hearings last spring, sayingactive-duty Marines in his district, which includes Camp Lejeune, andthe families of troops killed in combat contact him regularly about theissue. Since then, he has been joined by at least two other congressmen,Reps. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., and Jeff Miller, R.-Fla.
Skelton said in his Aug. 26 letter to the three congressmen that he shared their“deep interest in ensuring that the members of the Armed Forces servein conditions which allow them to act in self defense and providesufficient force protection.”
“Due to the sensitive and often classified nature of tactical directives, it is my intention to hold aclassified full committee briefing on this issue when Congress returnsfrom the August recess,” Skelton wrote.
The rules of engagement have been under a steady barrage of fire since July 2009, when Army Gen.Stanley McChrystal, then commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan,issued guidelines directing “leaders at all levels to scrutinize andlimit the use of force such as close-air support against residentialcompounds and other locations likely to produce civilian casualties.” Healso restricted the use of air-to-ground munitions and indirect fire,such as artillery rounds, against residences.
The concerns stretch beyond that, however. Marines in Afghanistan have complained thatinsurgents regularly hide their weapons in fields and ditches, making iteasy to blend in with civilians after a firefight.
Critics of McChrystal’s directives had hoped that the rules of engagement would bealtered this summer, after he resigned in June under pressure followingincendiary comments from his staff appeared in the media. ButMcChrystal’s replacement, Army Gen. David Petraeus, issued a tacticaldirective update last month that appeared to reinforce many of theprevious rules.
Declassified portions released by military officials in Afghanistan stress the need to not kill Afghan civilianswhile hunting for the Taliban.
“We must continue — indeed, redouble — our efforts to reduce the loss of innocent life to anabsolute minimum,” the Petraeus directive said. “Every Afghan civiliandeath diminishes our cause. If we use excess force or operate contraryto our counterinsurgency principles, tactical victories may prove to bestrategic setbacks.”
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