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April 13, 2011
Obama's R.O.E.:Catch-and-Release IED-Bombers (Afghanistan)
Recon Marine Cpl. Todd Love (above) got a hero's welcome in his hometown of Acworth, Georgia this week. Love lost both legs and his left arm in an IED explosion in Afghanistan a few months ago. The Washington Examiner story below by Sara Carter tells us that even if US forces had photographed the bomber in the act and captured him with bomb traces on his hands, they would then have had to feed him, clothe him ... and let him go.
Catch-and-Release IED-Bombers (Afghanistan)
by Diana West
This is another Afghanistan scandal that should get Congress pounding tables and demanding answers from the Pentagon and the White House. It should get readers doing the same. After all, we pay $350 million a day for this.
Carter writes:
Several Taliban detainees who had been captured in February after being observed placing bombs in the culverts of roads used by civilians and military convoys near Kandahar were fed, given medical treatment, then released by American troops frustrated by a policy they say is forcing them to kick loose enemies who are trying to kill them.
Despite what American soldiers say was a mountain of evidence, which included a video of the men planting the bomb and chemical traces found on their hands, there was nothing the soldiers who had captured them could do but feed and care for them for 96 hours and then set them free.
In another incident, members of a unit attached to 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment survived an attack by a suicide bomber on their convoy when his device failed to detonate. Soldiers managed to capture the would-be martyr, but he too was released after being held for four days.
"We put our lives on the line to capture the enemy," a soldier with the Stryker regiment told The Washington Examiner. "Since my deployment, every insurgent we've captured has been released."
Come again?
Since my deployment, every insurgent we've captured has been released."
International Security Assistance Forces officials contacted by The Examiner admitted that releases like these were common. The officials said ISAF forces can hold detainees for up to 96 hours, during which time detainees are "screened and a decision is made whether to release the individual, transfer them to appropriate Afghan authorities, or to the detention facility in Parwan [at Bagram Air Base]."
ISAF spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian said things are expected to change. He said Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior, supported by Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435, is implementing a system for fingerprinting captured insurgents.
"This program is going to make a huge difference, dramatically reducing insurgents' ability to hide among the general population," he said. "It will also improve the ability of Afghan and coalition forces to gather evidence of insurgent activity that will hold up in court."
Since when do soldiers have to gather "evidence" on their enemies? Welcome to COIN.
However, the program is not yet operational. Like many plans associated with the Afghan war, there are many potential setbacks ahead.
Troops say top commander Gen. David Petraeus has not fulfilled promises he made to Congress last year to review and, where appropriate, change rules of engagement that have restricted troops' ability to stop the enemy.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan. promised that ISAF would have control of at least 40 Afghan districts by the end of 2010. That promise also was not met.
Troops say it's impossible to hold the terrain when insurgents know that, if captured, they cannot be held.
The policy of releasing insurgents is expected to continue for now, officials said.
The Afghan legal system has no Western-style standards of prosecution that would allow suspected Taliban to be held in civil detention, ISAF officials said.
Um, the Afghan legal system (sharia-based) has no Western-style standards of anythiing.
"While there may be ample evidence to detain an individual, the same evidence may be insufficient to obtain an indictment or bring the detainee to an evidence-based trial," Dorrian said. "In other instances, individuals may be detained based on legitimate intelligence, but the intelligence may be classified and thus not able to be presented in open court. In some instances, this results in the individual being released."
ISAF general staff meeting.
James Carafano, senior defense analyst for the Heritage Foundation, said releasing suspected insurgents is not only a problem for U.S. troops but civilians who have been tormented under Taliban rule.
"The real issue is what is the right thing to do?" Carafano said. "Putting Taliban fighters back in the field who may kill or terrorize Afghan civilians as easily as U.S. soldiers is never the right thing to do. The U.S. troops will not be there forever --
Sez who?
-- and local officials need to start thinking about the long-term interests of their own people."
American troops say the policy is a morale killer.
How about just plain "killer"?
They say the inability to hold suspected insurgents is one of the reasons why the U.S. has been unable to suppress the Taliban.
Detainees can be held at various field detention facilities throughout Afghanistan. "Capacity is not an issue as to whether an individual remains detained," an ISAF official stated.
"How much more evidence do you need when they are captured on video and tested positive for ... chemicals on their hand?" a military official in Afghanistan said. "That's not enough evidence for our forces to transfer the detainees to a permanent facility before they try to kill U.S. troops again? It's unacceptable."
So don't accept it.
This is the article she is writing about ~ Wild Thing
Afghan rules of engagement force U.S. soldiers to free insurgents caught red-handed
Several Taliban detainees who had been captured in February after being observed placing bombs in the culverts of roads used by civilians and military convoys near Kandahar were fed, given medical treatment, then released by American troops frustrated by a policy they say is forcing them to kick loose enemies who are trying to kill them.
Despite what American soldiers say was a mountain of evidence, which included a video of the men planting the bomb and chemical traces found on their hands, there was nothing the soldiers who had captured them could do but feed and care for them for 96 hours and then set them free.
In another incident, members of a unit attached to 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment survived an attack by a suicide bomber on their convoy when his device failed to detonate. Soldiers managed to capture the would-be martyr, but he too was released after being held for four days.
“We put our lives on the line to capture the enemy,” a soldier with the Stryker regiment told The Washington Examiner. “Since my deployment, every insurgent we’ve captured has been released.”
International Security Assistance Forces officials contacted by The Examiner admitted that releases like these were common. The officials said ISAF forces can hold detainees for up to 96 hours, during which time detainees are “screened and a decision is made whether to release the individual, transfer them to appropriate Afghan authorities, or to the detention facility in Parwan [at Bagram Air Base].” . . .
American troops say the policy is a morale killer. They say the inability to hold suspected insurgents is one of the reasons why the U.S. has been unable to suppress the Taliban.
Detainees can be held at various field detention facilities throughout Afghanistan. “Capacity is not an issue as to whether an individual remains detained,” an ISAF official stated.
“How much more evidence do you need when they are captured on video and tested positive for … chemicals on their hand?” a military official in Afghanistan said. “That’s not enough evidence for our forces to transfer the detainees to a permanent facility before they try to kill U.S. troops again? It’s unacceptable.”
Troops say it's impossible to hold the terrain when insurgents know that, if captured, they cannot be held.
The policy of releasing insurgents is expected to continue for now, officials said.
.
Wild Thing's comment.......
This is willful sacrifice of our people for PC bullshit. We need to leave. These higher ups have absolutely no right to ask the troops to operate this way. This is total madness!!!! Talk about abandonment of our troops by our generals in the name of PC uber alles.
Posted by Wild Thing at April 13, 2011 04:55 AM
Comments
I have a good friend whose brother is in the Marines serving in Afghanistan. He said you could be in a firefight with insurgents and when they run out of ammo, if they throw their guns down, all you can do is watch them walk away.
Posted by: BobF at April 13, 2011 07:22 AM
Why is it that I truly wish our troops in Afghanistan would hand in their ID's and ask to be sent home. This is total bullshit and no soldier or marine should have to search for evidence to convict the known enemy in a court of law.
Posted by: Eddie (Enemy of the State) at April 13, 2011 08:05 AM
Sadly Gen Petraeus has shown several signs of caving in to politics. The eneny only knows violence. We need to kill them rather than capture them. Actually I am ready to get completly out of the MidEast. Whatever success we have is thrown out the window by American or local politicians. George Bush came into office promising no more nation building attempts. Now it seems like we are trying to do just that with people who don't want it. To hell with all these primitive muslims.
Posted by: TomR, armed in Texas at April 13, 2011 09:58 AM
Turn the place into GLASS!!!!
Posted by: Gator at April 13, 2011 11:02 AM
Patraeus reminds me more and more of Westmorland or Lessmoreland. When you hear of these ROE's then why the Hell are we even there. They are getting good men Killed and maimed for Nothing. Because that's exactly what obama is .
Posted by: Mark at April 13, 2011 02:50 PM
We can not just walk away from the Taliban. If we leave them a stagging area they will be back here with attacks on our cities as soon as Obama leaves.
Turning the place to glass is also a kind of iffy solution. The people on 9/11 were not from Afghanistan but were using it for stagging and Iraq for vending. The attackers were Church supported like Christian Missionaries.
What we need to is have the Afghanistan hillbillies take control of Islam or die trying.
Posted by: Avitar at April 13, 2011 09:25 PM
Unfortunately, Patraeus can only do what civilian leadership allows. The days of Generals actually running wars ended at the end of WWII.
Posted by: BobF at April 13, 2011 09:29 PM
Thank you all of you so much. This is so upsetting to see this happening to our awesome troops.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 14, 2011 01:52 AM
