As much as I oppose the war in Iraq, I am also one of the many who realize that since we're there, we have to think about ways to wage it effectively.
Newsweek magazine recently quoted Marine Capt. Rob Secher, who complained that "anytime an American fires a weapon there has to be an investigation into why there was an escalation of force."
Two related things I am concerned about are the lives of Iraqi civilians and reducing such casualties, as well as allowing the troops to do the job they were sent to do, which will hopefully bring more of them home, faster. It will also hasten the theoretical day that Iraqi will be left fully in the hands of the Iraqis, however they are defined.
The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting op-ed piece on the matter, one worth reading. I'm not one for the "shock and awe" attitude towards engagement, but I also don't that inquiries and finger-pointing every time a weapon is fired in war is the solution either.
The lessons of Vietnam ring truer than ever here; for as much as the US has gotten itself into the proverbial "quagmire", it is also defaulting to the same bureaucratic and political solutions that are just an ineffective in solving the bigger issue as they are guaranteed to get more soldiers killed.
I'll end this post with the ending to the article from which I am quoting:
Americans are supposedly united in "supporting the troops." But how can a country support their troops with restrictions that hamper their ability to fight? The surge is already under way. What's needed is a surge of common sense to persuade the Pentagon to restore traditional rules of engagement. Doing so will give our soldiers the dignity they deserve, the legal right to defend themselves – and the freedom to fight this war to win.
