The Strategic (Lance) Corporal

Last summer, during the protests in Iran, a woman was shot and killed by a member of the Basij--a militia force currently under the control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Someone standing nearby caught a video of the woman's death on a cell phone, and the video spread over the internet in a matter of hours. This morning I posed the question to my platoon: what if the protest had been in Iraq, or Afghanistan, and the shooter had been a US Marine?

Vietnam was the first war we fought in the television era, and the consequences of having that medium focused on the war were huge. The wars we're fighting now in Afghanistan and previously in Iraq are the first wars we've fought in the internet era, and the consequences of having that medium available to focus on the war have also been huge. We've gotten to the point now that the actions of anyone on the battlefield, no matter if they're the newest private or a high-ranking officer with years of experience, can be broadcast around the world in a matter of minutes or even seconds.

That's the idea behind the term "The Strategic (Lance) Corporal". Because there is the potential for everyone's actions to be broadcast around the world in a matter of seconds, it's extremely important that everyone, from the newest private to the high-ranking officers with years of experience, know and follow the Law of War and the Rules of Engagement. Our ability or failure to do so has the potential to affect national policy. Don't believe me? Think Abu Ghraib.

The Law of War, or Law of Armed Conflict, is a set of nine rules that determine how we interact with enemy forces and civilians, and is designed to minimize human suffering. Things like: Collect and care for the wounded, whether friend or foe. Destroy no more than the mission requires.

Our Rules of Engagement provide guidance on the use of force. It seems a little silly--we fight the enemy, right? Yes, but it's far from clear who you should fight when the enemy can hide their weapons at a moment's notice and blend into the crowd. So instead we use the guidelines of a hostile act or a hostile intent. A hostile act is pretty simple to identify--someone's actively doing something to try to harm you. Hostile intent requires more judgment. Is the fertilizer in the farmer's barn being used for his crops, or is it being used to make homemade explosives for roadside bombs? Is that guy with a cell phone phoning a friend, or is he using it to trigger a nearby IED (improvised explosive device)?

We train our Marines to make split-second decisions where their lives and the lives of their buddies hang in the balance. Are some of them going to make the wrong decision--shoot the guy who was calling his friend? Or the woman who they suspected might be reaching to trigger a suicide vest and was instead reaching for a white handkerchief? Unfortunately, yes. No matter what era or what we can accomplish with technology, war is characterized by imperfect information. So we give them the tools to make those decisions and realize that hindsight is 20/20.

A quick note to brag about my Marines. We ran a physical fitness test yesterday, and I had one Marine with a perfect score, and several Marines with scores high enough to receive a certificate of recognition. I can't say it enough: my Marines are awesome.