Kent+M's+Op-Ed+Article

//[]// //(the pilot goes on to say that unless they are being shot at they are not allowed to engage)//

According to Plato's Republic a nation must be composed of three classes, the workers, the warriors, and the philosopher senators and kings. Looking at modern America we see those three classes, the working class that fuels this nations economy, the military who protects this nation and its interests, and the politicians that keep this super power running effectively. However nowhere in the Republic does it say that the classes are supposed to tell each other their jobs. The warriors should not and has no qualification to tell the worker how to go about doing his job, neither should the humble worker tell the senator how to run the nation, but most importantly the politicians has no responsibility, right, or reason to instruct the warriors how they should go about their brutal business of making war, and this rings true more so today then it did in the days of Plato. I am by no means saying that the president or politicians of this fine country should not tell our military when, and where to fight, quite the opposite this nation needs those fine men and women to decide when the warriors are needed or when the problem can be decided by less bloody means. However what I am saying is that the leaders of our fine nation, and the members of the United Nations, has absolutely no business and no right to try to instruct the men and women in the Navy, Marines, Army, or Air Force, on when they can and cannot fight for either themselves, or the welfare of others. I am saying that politicians have no right, and should have no power to create what is known as the ROE or Rules of Engagement. Because whenever politicians try to create these “humane rules” the only thing it does effectively for the military is to get them maimed or killed and this is something that needs to be stopped. Ever since the late President Bush declared war on terror, the rules of engagement for our troops has remained the same. “Do not fire, unless fired upon” Easy to understand right? It is extremely easy to comprehend, and even easier to get killed obeying that o so simple rule. In the terrorist bombing of Beirut, Lebanon the marines were ready to fire upon the driver of the fatal car bomb, but they were unable to do so because they had yet to be fired upon. That simple rule cost the lives of sixteen United States Marines. What politicians of today fail to realize, is the fact that our elite soldiers are some of the most highly trained in the world. They attend boot-camp and a host of other specialized schools to train them in the art of making war. Contrary to popular belief the men and women that compose our military know how to read situations, and if given free reign they would not just ride around in Humvee's shooting living shit out of anything that moved. They did not in World War 2, they did not in Vietnam, and have no intention of doing so now. These warriors are trained professionals, not farmers with guns,. Our founding fathers wrote that the president is allowed to make those decisions regarding when troops are allowed to engage when our military was just that, farmers with their rusty shotguns, not highly trained professionals. Our fine politicians refuse to recognize this fact, and insist on allowing more and more troops to die because they will not allow the rules of engagement to be changed. They are ignorant in the ways of war as the body count clearly shows, but they insist that it is their duty to “limit collateral damage” apparently they did not get the memo that the military is not in the business of gunning down civilians just for shits and giggles. Our military is composed of professionals, it is time the political leaders of our country saw and accepted that our soldiers know what they are doing, and to respect that. Most importantly it is time for our troops to stop getting killed by following a rule that was made by a man who most likely has not even seen a rifle before much, less fired one at another human being. It is time our republic recognizes the soldiers for the professionals they are, and to step back and allow them to do their job to the best of their ability.