The Cost of Obama's ROE (Rules of Engagement)

One Marine's View ......

The failure of the war does not rest at the hands of the brave troops who  patrol every day. It lies with top military leadership and politicians, who have  effectively choked our troops so badly that their mission has become  impossible.

“I cannot emphasize just how badly the pullout date has ruined our efforts  over here,” said Evan. “Down to the lowest soldier, there is a very palpable  sense that everything we’ve done is too little, too late.”

As many leaders and politicians continue to plead with a public weary to  continue their support for the war, they say, as they said similarly during the  war in Vietnam, that “the deaths of our soldiers should not be in vain.”

I disagree. The death of a brother in arms, while tragic and equally  heartbreaking, should not be used as a political tool. The fallen heroes of this  war are lost forever and will never see a battlefield again. They should not be  used to further justify its expansion.

There is an economic theory that supports my reasoning: It’s called a sunk  cost dilemma. The theory presents a problem of having to choose between ending  an activity immediately or choosing to continue with an uncertain outcome that  already involves considerable investment. The investment, whether it be time,  money, or in the case of the Afghan war, lives, can never be recovered, and is  called a sunk cost.

I believe that we should allow our soldiers to be able to fight this war. As  Lt Col. Christian Cabaniss tells his Marines in the documentary Obama’s War, “Make no mistake, we are experts in the application of violence.”

Despite being experts at warfare, the military, much like a professional  boxer, will never win a fight when their hands are tied behind their back.  Unfortunately, it is our own Generals and politicians that have done the  tying.

“We’ve embraced the counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine without remembering to  maintain the true power of the US military, which is an unstoppable killing  machine,” Evan told me. “Now the buzz words are ‘development’ [and] ‘partnership’. These things brief well, but they must be used hand in hand with  a tolerant and permissive ROE that allows us to flex our full potential when we  need to.”

Read it all here.  http://www.businessinsider.com/one-marines-views-on-afghanistan-201...