New, clarified rules issued for Afghan fight

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New, clarified rules issued for Afghan fight
By Kevin Baron
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 4, 2010

ARLINGTON, Va. — In the plain-spoken language that is his trademark, the new commanding general in Afghanistan has issued his first set of fighting rules for combat troops, explicitly freeing them to defend themselves while at the same time ordering them to make the safety of Afghan civilians their first priority and continuing to restrict the use of air power and heavy artillery.

Just how many of the largely classified rules are really new was not immediately clear. Military officials acknowledged that most of Gen. David Petraeus’ "tactical directive" announced Wednesday repeats the substance of rules laid down by his predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal — strictures that some troops on the ground had complained were tying their hands and impeding their ability to go after Taliban insurgents.

"Prior to the use of (firepower), the commander approving the strike must determine that no civilians are present," Petraeus wrote, according to portions of the tactical directive released Wednesday by the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul. "If unable to assess the risk of civilian presence, fires are prohibited" except in two specific cases that officials declined to release, citing operational security.

Petraeus added that his new directive "does not prevent commanders from protecting the lives of their men and women as a matter of self-defense where it is determined no other options are available to effectively counter the threat."

ISAF officials described the rules as more of a "clarification and reaffirmation" of previous directives. In a statement, they emphasized that "the directive firmly places the presence of civilians at the center of every decision involving the use of force."