The highly restrictive rules of engagement issued at the beginning of the war were dropped. Soldiers were told to treat all Iraqis, whether they appeared to be civilians or not, as enemies first. The exact wording of the order was cautious, but the tone and meaning were unmistakable: Shoot first, ask questions later, and don't worry about the consequences. I

Is he joking?

And as much as I greatly admire Sewall, I believe he is caricaturing her points to fit a premise that's simply a cartoon.

With some competence, the author might have ventured into questions of the sagacity of our ongoing force structure, CMNF-I strategy to "lower the footprint" of US operations so that ISF would stand up or the uneven implementation of COPs by SF, MTT and USMC units (and the Tal Afar experiment), but to create a blanket view of our COIN efforts in such a way only distorts what was really going on.

I don't understand this because he's been to OIF, has written fairly good stories about complicated topics (http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mh/d...p?startpage=30) and doesn't seem to be intentionally obtuse.

Is his audience so lacking in sophistication that they can't understand nuance when it comes to the actual ROE in 2003, questions about force structure or COP tactics that began in both Army and USMC units more than year before the so-called "Surge" finally began?