Ilario Pantano, a former Marine officer who led a platoon in Anbar province when it was infested with al Qaeda, said his men "spent a lot time" learning the complex rules of engagement before deploying.
"We spent time on role playing," Mr. Pantano said. "But you could spend years on training and in a split second get it right or get it wrong. American soldiers are asked to make millions of decisions a day on the use of force. 'Why is he on a cell phone? Where is that woman going? Who is this guy coming at me?' "
This is a way that the enemy kills innocent Iraqis that most people neglect and why it is a big deal that they don't wear uniforms. Not only does the enemy deliberately target innocent civilians with beheadings and suicide bombs, but by refusing to distinguish themselves as combatants, the enemy makes our troops have to decide countless times per day whether the civilian they see is a civilian to be protected or a threat to be killed.
For the enemy it is simpler. If they see a uniform they can shoot. Or if they see a civilian they can shoot. Kill 'em all and let allah sort them out. The contrast in fighting styles should be enlightening:
The U.S. military's strict rules of engagement underscore a sharp contrast between its conduct and the enemy's, as al Qaeda grows more desperate to inflict carnage in Iraq.
U.S. commanders have laid down restrictions on firing weapons, entering mosques and the treatment of detainees in a war often fought at night against an elusive, hard-to-identify enemy.
At the same time, Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda in Iraq is willing to strike any civilian target as the year-old U.S. troop surge kills terrorists and pushes their cells out of urban areas and into the countryside.
Look at how Iraq is playing out now and recall how many war supporters wanted us to "take the gloves off" and stop worrying about innocent civilians. Our jihadi enemies, who behead victims and use chlorine gas and suicide bombs, could not terrorize Iraqis enough to prevent them from siding with us--not even the Sunni Arabs who were supposed to be al Qaeda's allies. How on Earth could we have been more brutally effective than al Qaeda?
Even war supporters need to learn patience. And remember that 60mm Beanie Babies are ammunition in this type of war. Lock and load.
