Rules Of Engagement By Audrey Randall

Rules of Engagement By Audrey Randall “The law of war is of fundamental importance to the Armed Forces of the United States.” (Department) This is what the Department of Defense believes regarding “rules of engagement” or ROEs, the terms and conditions set within American military directives, which are to be followed when engaging enemy personnel and are often decided by a JAG (Judge Advocate Attorney) officer. As a whole, the Department of Defense writes these out in their own Law of War Manuel. These rules often serve as a double-edged sword, attempting to balance the imperative nature of protecting civilian lives, and the unfortunate reality of combat. This concept is a major cause of chaos on the battlefield. Modern warfare has become an unforgiving landscape, and military personnel must put what

The supposition that the U.S. government, while engaging in armed conflict, tries above all else to retain its honor spans back to George Washington’s ideology during the Revolutionary War. More specifically the concord he established with British combatants, in which each encounter was to be “carried on agreeable to the rules which humanity formed.” (Department) Lincoln later expanded upon these loose directives, compelling other countries to augment their code of conduct regarding military engagements. (Department) “American failures in Vietnam and Rolling Thunder was not caused solely by restrictive ROEs, yet in future air campaigns, as in this David and Goliath struggle, overly restrictive ROEs could become the decisive stone which kills any hope of an American aerial victory.” (Drake) Rolling Thunder was an almost three-year bombing campaign that ultimately resulted in U.S. failure. The reason for the failure can be attributed in part to new technology developed by the Vietnamese, anti-aircraft weapons that shot American fighter planes from the air and cut off bombing strikes