On Combat

This week’s testimony of a Marine Lieutenant in a hearing on a shooting in Iraq (”Marine Snipers’ Killing Rules Weren’t Clear, Lieutenant Testifies” Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2008) probes the gray areas between use of force and restraint in a counterinsurgency campaign:

“Lt. Dominic Corabi said that as he and his Marines deployed to Iraq, he tried and failed to get clarification from senior officers about what constitutes “positive identification” and “hostile intent” — terms in the official rules of engagement that dictate when Marines can use deadly force.”

Clear rules are desirable to provide legal and moral protection to US troops of all services, yet no black and white rule set will be sufficient to separate good guys from bad in the inherently ambiguous situations in a counterinsurgency. A sniper’s dilemma is compounded by the nature of the mission…with the ability to kill at long range, snipers have the ability to attack insurgents before they are in range to harm friendlies. Yet the intent of individuals at long range is more difficult to determine than at closer ranges.

The Marine reaction  appears to have been to take the low-level decision out of the hands of the local commander and push it to a higher echelon. It’s not clear, however if the higher authority routinely has better information than the  local commander directly observing the  enemy:

Winnick, 24, a sniper team leader, was on his fourth tour in Iraq when the incident occurred June 17, 2007. Later, Marines changed the rules, requiring even a sniper team leader to get authority from an officer before pulling the trigger, except in cases of self-defense.

There is the potential for higher headquarters to have access to more sources of information: Integration of multiple sources of intelligence is a solution used by Predator UAV crews directed by the Air Operations Center. This integration (listening to communications intelligence, for example) allows for the best chance at determination of hostile intent and identifying known insurgents, and although far from perfect, is likely to produce the most discriminating and precise killing of the enemy.