Comments on: The Marines at their guard posts had been prohibited from having a round in the chamber

By: Adar

Adar — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 16:47:08 +0000

“Obviously the CO issuing the order should have been shot. A serious military would have had the entire chain of command court-martialed.”

You could have a loaded mag in the weapon without chambering a round. The command was probably afraid of accidental discharges.

Supposedly the French troops guarding important sites in France the same way. They have an unloaded mag in the rifle to look tough but carry a loaded mag on their person. Once more the staff officers afraid of an accidental discharge killing a tourist foremost on their minds.

My guess.

By: VXXC

VXXC — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 11:11:17 +0000

1. The orders to not chamber rounds would have come from DC or a much higher level than the on the ground CO, who is crippled to this very day, and woke up in a hospital weeks later.

2. ROE/Rules of Engagement were originally for *potential* Belligerents not Combat Choreography, or really *Ritual Warfare* our rituals being legal and managerial bureaucracy. Only on the ground de facto insubordinates [in all humility including me] can overcome this nonsense. So one must choose: choose your men. Many did. Many are gone. Few remain.
Perhaps enough to spare the men unnecessary suffering. Perhaps not.

3. However all this treachery and madness, cowardice DOES have the needed effect of teaching us contempt for the law, and showing us who are leaders….aren’t.

By: Wanweilin

Wanweilin — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:43:16 +0000

ROEs have killed more soldiers in recent years than battles with the enemy.

By: Lucklucky

Lucklucky — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 06:11:25 +0000

From wiki – which should be noted have completely unreliable information from partisan journalist Robert Fisk – example no reference to Damour massacre.

On September 26, 1983, “the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted an Iranian diplomatic communications message from the Iranian intelligence agency, the Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS),” to its ambassador, Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, in Damascus. The message directed the ambassador to “take spectacular action against the American Marines.”[35] The intercepted message, dated September 26, would not be passed to the Marines until October 26: three days after the bombing.[36]

By: Lucklucky

Lucklucky — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 06:05:55 +0000

The Fox News article has several bad mistakes.

“White House infighting blocked a proposed American retaliation”

Dec 15, 1983 — The battleship New Jersey opened fire for the first time against targets in Lebanon today, hurling 1,900-pound shells.

“proved to be the largest nonnuclear explosion on record, one that equaled as much as 20,000 pounds of TNT.”

Not even close:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions

By: Mannheim

Mannheim — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 02:05:33 +0000

Obviously the CO issuing the order should have been shot. A serious military would have had the entire chain of command court martialed. That this occurred to shock troops of the Empire demonstrated the fallacy of American martial competence.