DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./IRAQ: DHIMMIS RULE THE PENTAGO

Analysis: Rules stop U.S. entering mosques
By SHAUN WATERMAN
UPI Homeland and National Security Editor

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. military's rules of engagement in Iraq in the fall of 2005 forbade troops from entering mosques, even during a firefight, without the permission of senior commanders who would consult Iraqi authorities.

The rules, which have likely been amended since, also mandated that any planned strike that might cause more than 30 civilian casualties had to be personally authorized by the secretary of defense; provided enormously wide-ranging authority to detain Iraqi civilians and search their homes and workplaces; and allowed commanders on the ground to initiate hot pursuit -- and pre-emptive strikes against threats from insurgents or terrorists -- across the border into Syria and Iran.

A copy of the rules, which are classified, was posted on the Web at the weekend by the organization Wikileaks, which says it aims to provide a secure way whistleblowers can "reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations" and favors government transparency.

In a special section on mosques and religious structures, the rules specify that -- though commanders on the ground may return fire, or even call in airstrikes, against a mosque that is being used by enemy forces -- U.S. troops will not enter such buildings, even during fighting, "without the approval of the (senior regional commander) in coordination with (the Iraqi ministries of defense and interior)."

If approval is granted, the rules say, Iraqi security forces will enter the building, "with cordon support from U.S. forces."

Similar restrictions govern the detention of clerics or imams.

"This is a very encouraging document," said Andrew Exum, a U.S. Army Ranger and counterinsurgency specialist who fought in Iraq and is now studying Islamist groups at King's College, London.

"It shows that somebody's done some thinking about how to deal with a very complex and confusing kinetic and cultural battleground … They are really trying to get their head around" a new type of warfare, he said.

Exum said that the Geneva Conventions allowed military action against so-called dual-use structures.

"Anything you are using (to fire from) … even a hospital, becomes a dual-use structure" and can be targeted, he said.

The U.S. rules went "above and beyond the requirements of international law," he said. "They are thinking, 'How's that gonna play on al-Jazeera?'"

Exum said the rules still provided sufficient flexibility for troops at the frontline. "It doesn't restrain (their) reaction."

He said the rules specified they were a baseline and that area commanders in the field could issue more restrictive rules if they wished. "They are trying to preserve as much flexibility as possible for the commanders on the ground," he said.

...


Yup, think about how it will play on al jazeera, but don't worry about how many of your own people will die...

They are expandable...



Pertinent Links:

1) Analysis: Rules stop U.S. entering mosques