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| Afghanistan | |||
| Directive re-emphasizes protecting Afghan civilians - USAF Web Site | |||
| 2009-07-08 | |||
| (AFNS) -- A new tactical directive for coalition forces serving in Afghanistan re-emphasizes the importance of preventing civilian casualties. Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, released the directive July 2. It builds on previous tactics and is much clearer about use of close-air support, searching Afghan houses and protecting Afghan cultural and religious sensitivities. All coalition forces in Afghanistan must follow the directive. Taliban fighters use a tactic of engaging coalition forces from positions that expose Afghan civilians to danger. Close-air support of coalition and Afghan personnel engaged in a May 4 firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan's Farah province killed numerous civilians. The Taliban cite such incidents to lead people to believe the NATO-led forces do not care for Afghan civilians.
Still, the directive does not prevent commanders from protecting the lives of their troops engaged in direct combat. The directive is general because the nature of a counterinsurgency is complex and no one can foresee all eventualities, officials said. General McChrystal expects commanders at all levels to understand the directive and use it when planning and conducting operations. "Following this intent requires a cultural shift within our forces, and complete understanding at every level," he wrote. The tactical guidance takes the new strategy for Afghanistan as its base, recognizing that ISAF and Afghan forces may win tactical victories against the Taliban, but lose the war. "We must avoid the trap of winning tactical victories, but suffering strategic defeats, by causing civilian casualties or excessive damage and thus alienating the people," General McChrystal wrote. Specifically, the directive calls on commanders "to scrutinize and limit the use of force like close-air support against residential compounds and other locations likely to produce civilian casualties." Bombing residential compounds will be allowed only under very limited conditions, the directive says. For example, if a coalition force comes in contact with Taliban fighters and the enemy takes cover in a residential compound, the NATO force can break contact and wait out the enemy rather than calling for close-air support. Another portion of the directive states that any search of Afghan homes will be done by Afghan security forces with the support of local authorities. "No ISAF forces will enter or fire upon, or fire into a mosque or any religious or historical site except in self-defense," General McChrystal wrote in the directive. "All searches and entries for any other reason will be conducted by the Afghan National Security Forces." The directive is not a departure from past practices, officials said, noting that killing civilians never has been an International Security Assistance Force tactic. "Working together with our Afghan partners, we can overcome the enemy's influence and give the Afghan people what they deserve: a country at peace for the first time in three decades, foundations of good governance and economic development," General McChrystal said. The next directive will probably limit the return of Small Arms Fire (SAF) by US Forces to pistols only.
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| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #5 If you need to blow up a compound and kill 50 civilians to secure a village, one has to ask if securing that village at that time is worth the cost. One, you aren't going to know whether you're going to kill 50 civilians when attacking a compound, or end up killing 50 Marines if you don't. Two, the concern here is whether there is going to be 'additional insurance' padded on to an existing ROE. I've not heard one way or the other, but it is a valid concern. This concern is neither formed in a vacuum, or a knee-jerk reaction LH. Troops have taken casualties because of it. An example of safe-siding an ROE is the attack on the Marine compound in Lebanon. There are many other instances (a couple of which I've experienced). |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-07-08 13:11 |
| #4 I assume SOF going after High Value Targets face a different benefit cost equation from Marines securing a district. If you need to blow up a compound and kill 50 civilians to secure a village, one has to ask if securing that village at that time is worth the cost. If you are going kill Baitullah Mehsud, OTOH ....... |
| Posted by: liberal hawk 2009-07-08 11:17 |
| #3 Let's remember that one of the things Petreaus did when he lead the change in Iraq was to remove all the tacked on subordinate directives to the ROEs that constrained the troops from engaging the enemy. The command structure attitude became CYAWP because of the perceived modus operandi of the leadership. Unless McChrystal makes sure that kind of corporate behavior doesn't take hold in the next lower levels of command, he is indeed going to repeat the mistake that lead to situation that required the surge in Iraq. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-07-08 11:15 |
| #2 Again, directives such as this have a disproportionate effect on troops in the field as the instruction is passed from higher to lower and amplified and safe-sided at each level. These directives come as welcomed news to the insurgents I assure you. General McChrystal's "cultural shift" rhetoric is quite revealing. Recent and future coalition casualty figures in the region may reflect, in my opinion, this feckless, politically motivated approach. Do SOF forces operate under the same ROE? I suspect they do the memo says "all coalition forces." SOF FOBS have returned fire with organic 105mm Howitzers in the past. This will all be very interesting to follow. I hope I am WRONG and we begin to see peace breaking out all over Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-07-08 10:17 |
| #1 "Directive re-emphasizes protecting your own butt when Washington actively disarms you, but still demands results." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-07-08 09:56 |