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Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (46705)	11/22/2004 10:34:40 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 59480

Rules of Engagement - “YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO DIE,” indepundit.com "LISTEN UP!” I addressed the twenty men and women of my security team. It was January 2003, and the sun had just risen on a chilly winter morning over the Persian Gulf. We were preparing to go on the first operational watch of our deployment, protecting the port of Shuaiba from possible attacks by terrorists or enemy commandos. My sailors had just been issued weapons and ammunition, and several of them appeared a little bit nervous about it. “Sometime in the next few days, the JAG is going to come around and give us a formal ROE briefing.” I explained, referring to the Navy lawyer who would bore us in infinite detail about the rules of engagement under which we would be operating. “But seeing as how we now have real weapons, with real ammunition, and this isn’t a training exercise, I’m going to give you the Cliff’s Notes version.” I scanned their faces, to make sure they were all awake and paying attention. “YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO DIE,” I boomed. “Does everyone understand so far?” Nods. “Good,” I continued. “Remember that. No matter what the ROE says, no matter what the Geneva Conventions say, you ALWAYS have the inherent right of self-defense. Nobody can take that away from you.” I let that sink in for a moment. “If you see someone making preparations to attack you, you will level your weapon at them, take the safety off, aim for center mass, and fire.” I paused again, briefly. “You will continue firing until they are no longer a threat.” They were definitely awake now. “WE WILL NOT TAKE THE FIRST HIT,” I commanded. “Do not hesitate to defend yourself, or your shipmates. If we are attacked, you will only have a very limited amont of time to react – just a few seconds. If you hesitate to do your job, people will die. “That doesn’t mean you have a liscense to kill indiscriminately,” I explained, “But if you honestly perceive that your life is in danger, and you take lethal action to protect yourself, I will go to the mat to defend each and every one of you.” I looked each person directly in the eyes. “Remember, it’s much better for you to have to defend your decision to use lethal force after the fact, than for me to write a letter to your widow or parents explaining why you didn't. “I don’t want to have to write any of those letters,” I declared. “I will NOT write any of those letters – because YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO DIE. “Any questions?” “NO, SIR!” “Good. Let’s go to work.”