#luttrel

After reading a couple of books recently written by ex-Navy SEALs, namely American Sniper by Chris Kyle and Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrel, I’ve realised that many of the problems in the Iraq, and Afghanistan conflicts were caused by soldiers having to follow “Rules of Engagement” or ROEs. As stated by Chris Kyle in American Sniper, if an insurgent ran into your house and shot his wife and kids, then dropped his gun, You couldn’t shoot him because he didn’t pose a threat. Indeed, the entire story of Lone Survivor may have not happened. The main problem of Lone Survivor is the SEALs being discovered by a group of goat herders. The group has to make a decision. Kill the herders, continue the mission, but the problem with this is the left-wing politicians in the USA and the United Nations, deemed that since these herders were not a threat, they couldn’t be killed otherwise it would count as murder. The other option is to let them go, which the SEALs do. They move to a different position after letting the herders go, and get discovered. During the following days the other three men in Marcus’s group are killed in action. The deaths of the three men could have been avoided if the ROEs were different. I’m not saying that there should be no ROEs, just they should be different. They should be changed in such a way that soldiers should be protected. As Marcus said, if you want to go into a conflict don’t go in expecting no civilian casualties or deaths.