Trying to clarify here…because I am too old and senile for combat zones to observe how this now works…
Based on what you just said…a soldier achieves positive ID of an immediate threat when someone dressed as a civilian puts an AK-47 into their shoulder pointed in the soldier’s general direction …or is just general direction good enough for positive ID of an immediate threat under the existing ROE?
The question now becomes what is the difference between IDing the immediate threat of an AK-47 pointed in your general direction or one driving a VBIED in your general area (ECR) in a county full of suicide car bombers?
Next question…does the ROE, as written, specifically say, “weapon pointed at you” or does it say something more like a soldier has a right of self-defense when an “imminent threat” presents itself to the soldier? Imminent threat, in the laws of war, is described as "instant, overwhelming, and leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation” and applies to both the state and the individual. Generally speaking, I think the “weapon pointed at you part” is a commander’s “dogmatic” interpreted SOP of immediate threat when imminent threat has to be decided at the individual level under the laws of war self-defense rule.
Tactically, this does not work (and I recognize you are agreeing) because we are trying to mix the laws of war and the rule of war and the problem at the strategic level is way worse. For example, you stated:


Quote Originally Posted by socal1200r View Post
When we did our pre-convoy briefings before going outside the wire in Kirkuk, I made it a point to tell everyone that it's common in the Iraqi culture for men to carry weapons, so that in and of itself did not pose an immediate threat to us.
(no offense intended here, but when you think about it, at least in my mind, that is like saying we are going to hold mail call until moral improves.)

Under the laws of war anyone who picks up a weapon is a combatant…even if you put it down later you are still a combatant. Once a combatant, the question then becomes, whose side you are on and under the laws of war the principle of distinction is supposed to solve that problem. The enemy, in Afghanistan and Iraq, purposely violates the principle of distinction, in order to hide in the population. The US military (and NATO) is the only organization in the whole wide world that allows citizens to turn themselves into combatants as a step to prove that the rule of law exists in a combat zone. We did this in Iraq and we are doing it in Afghanistan and it is madness. The SFC Taylor case is not only a symptom of mixing the laws or war and the rule of war, but also it demonstrates the enablement of a bad host nation leader with a bad strategic practice of “strategic legalism” (and we are doing it at the expense of our own people). Both at the tactical and strategic level, we are mounting our white horse, pulling our pistol and shooting ourselves in the foot.