The Ghost of LBJ

The "Karzai 12" rules

Filed under "Democrats and war," & "Impeach Obama"

I missed this entirely, and learned about by chance after turning on the car radio while Sean Hannity disclosed it.  The "it" being handcuffs American soldiers in Afghanistan will wear from now on. The WaTimes (Nov 16) compiled an informal list (7) of the new rules from interviews with U.S. forces. Among them: • No night or surprise searches. • Villagers have to be warned prior to searches. • ANA or ANP must accompany U.S. units on searches. • U.S. soldiers may not fire at the enemy unless the enemy is preparing to fire first. • U.S. forces cannot engage the enemy if civilians are present. • Only women can search women. • Troops can fire at an insurgent if they catch him placing an IED but not if insurgents are walking away from an area where explosives have been laid. These rules are nominally by order of Gen. McChrystal: In his Aug. 30 assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, which was leaked to the press, Gen. McChrystal said that the legitimacy of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had been "severely damaged … in the eyes of the Afghan people" because of "an over-reliance on firepower and force protection." To succeed, he wrote, "ISAF will have to change its operating culture to pursue a counterinsurgency approach that puts the Afghan people first." This entails "accepting some risk in the short term [but] will ultimately save lives in the long term." If that doesn't sound like the voice of LBJ/ Robert S. McNamara, nothing does.  The fact that the military haven't issued the list in written form, it seems to me, means they know as much. ”