Families outraged over engagement restrictions

[unhappycamper]

A Marine carry team carries a transfer case containing the remains of Marine Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick at Dover Air Force Base, Del., as Adm. Mike Mullen, left, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, salutes Sept. 10.


Families outraged over engagement restrictions
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 2, 2009 6:40:48 EST

Enough is enough.

Retired 1st Sgt. John Bernard has had it with the war in Afghanistan.

Enough of “shameful” and “suicidal” rules of engagement that leave U.S. troops vulnerable to ambushes. Enough of worrying more about harming Afghan civilians than American forces. Enough of politics.

Bernard was a scout sniper and platoon sergeant during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, so he’s familiar with the warrior’s creed. But as the father of Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard, he has reached his limit.

The younger Bernard was killed Aug. 14 by a rocket-propelled grenade, an attack that became a national story after The Associated Press distributed a photograph of Bernard’s son’s last living moments in Dahaneh, Afghanistan. The father wrote his representatives in Congress several times during the weeks leading up to Joshua’s death, each time expressing apprehension about the more-restrictive guidelines put in place by the new commander of U.S. forces there, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marines_fire_support_110209w/