The Truth Comes Out - British Troops In Afghanistan Are Not Allowed To Fire Upon Taliban IED Emplacers

The controversial policy was emerged at an inquest into the death of Sgt Peter Rayner, 34, a soldier who was killed in October last year by an improvised explosive device as he led a patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan Photo: PA

I have blogged extensively about the ridiculous rules of engagement (ROE) that have been placed on American troops in Afghanistan but the latest example of handcuffing troops, the award for protecting the enemy, not your own, goes to Britain. It has come out that British troops have been ordered NOT to fire upon or take action against Taliban IED emplacers even when they are being clearly observed planting the deadly devices.

From the report at The Telegraph:

British soldiers who spot Taliban fighters planting roadside bombs are told not to shoot them because they do not pose an immediate threat, the Ministry of Defence has admitted.

They are instead being ordered to just observe insurgents and record their position to reduce the risk of civilian casualties.

The controversial policy emerged at an inquest into the death of Sgt Peter Rayner, 34, a soldier from the 2nd Batallion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment who was killed in October last year by an improvised explosive device as he led a patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Wendy Rayner, 40, disclosed that in the days leading up to his death her husband been told that it was not his job to attack insurgents laying bombs.

Mrs Rayner, who lives with their young son in Bradford, told the inquest that the insurgents were being allowed to get away with the murder of British troops.

She said: “They are not allowed to fire on these terrorists. If they can see people leaving these IEDs, why can’t they take them out? One officer even told him 'I am an army Captain and you will do your job'.

I'll only make two observations about all of this cause I'm too hopping mad at the moment.

First, this is what happens to a military that is infiltrated, subverted and controlled by the effeminate Marxists and multiculturalists. It's about what happens when environmentalists infect the business world of a country...pretty soon you cannot produce a single product for the benefit of society.

Second, this is what happens when islamists permeate a home western country - the public officials fear local violence and terror so much that they run a war of appeasing islamic jihadis.

There are two schools of thought - the first one is that if you appease the islamists, both at home and in foreign lands, the islamists will conform to your culture and leave behind their jihadi ways...the second school of thought is that the only thing that islamists will respect is brute force that destroys them. The second school of thought is correct. The first school of thought is cultural and literal suicide.

Soldiers told not to shoot Taliban bomb layers


British soldiers who spot Taliban fighters planting roadside bombs are told not to shoot them because they do not pose an immediate threat, the Ministry of Defence has admitted.

They are instead being ordered to just observe insurgents and record their position to reduce the risk of civilian casualties.

The controversial policy emerged at an inquest into the death of Sgt Peter Rayner, 34, a soldier from the 2nd Batallion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment who was killed in October last year by an improvised explosive device as he led a patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Wendy Rayner, 40, disclosed that in the days leading up to his death her husband been told that it was not his job to attack insurgents laying bombs.

Mrs Rayner, who lives with their young son in Bradford, told the inquest that the insurgents were being allowed to get away with the murder of British troops.

She said: “They are not allowed to fire on these terrorists. If they can see people leaving these IEDs, why can’t they take them out? One officer even told him 'I am an army Captain and you will do your job'.

"We have lost too many men out there, they had seen people planting IEDs yet could not open fire or make contact with them. I believe strongly if people had taken on board what he was saying more he might have been here today.”

Under the Geneva Convention and the nationally administered Rules of Engagement the 9,500 British troops in Afghanistan are told they can only attack if there is an immediate threat to life.

A key part of the MoD’s counter-insurgency theory holds that it is more important to win over civilians by not killing innocent people than it is to eliminate every potential insurgent.

One officer who has recently served in Afghanistan said that if a soldier wanted to ascertain if an insurgent was an immediate threat, he would have to approach him and expose himself to greater risk.

He said: “A British soldier manning a checkpoint at night might watch a man digging a hole for an IED 100 metres away and would not try to shoot at him. It’s a ludicrous situation.

“There has to be an immediate threat to life and that’s a hard thing to prove. An IED does not count as an immediate threat.

“The Americans are different – their Rules of Engagement are pretty liberal. If they even suspect someone of laying a bomb, they can shoot them.”

Afghans routinely dig holes in river banks to store meat because there is no refrigeration and farmers often dig at night because it is cooler to work.

The Taliban bomb layers take advantage of this to spread confusion.

They set roadside bombs where farmers work and villagers store meat, and they also pay civilians $10 a time to dig a hole.

If the civilian is shot, it is a propaganda victory for the Taliban, and if the hole is not discovered by soldiers, it can be used later for a roadside bomb.

The existing policy of “courageous restraint” was led by the US General Stanley McChrystal 18 months ago and has been repeatedly criticised for leaving soldiers fighting “with one hand behind their backs”.

At yesterday’s inquest, after the acting Bradford coroner Paul Marks recorded a verdict of unlawful killing, Mrs Rayner urged the MoD to “let our soldiers be soldiers”.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “Troops in Afghanistan are required to exercise restraint when dealing with this threat as the use of deadly force is not always appropriate when there is a risk of collateral damage.

“The aim of this policy is to avoid innocent civilians who may be in the vicinity.”

He Died From A Broken Heart

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Just a pair of best friends until one was killed by a road side bomb. Yet the love this dog had for his partner was so great that within the day he joined his master/friend.

Liam and Theo were a team, fast friends doing a dangerous job -- searching out roadside bombs laid by insurgents in Afghanistan.

The jovial British soldier and his irrepressible dog worked and played together for months, and died on the same day. On Thursday they came home, flown back to Britain in a somber repatriation ceremony for the soldier remembered for his empathy with animals and the companion he loved.

Lance Cpl. Liam Tasker, a dog handler with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, was killed in a firefight with insurgents in Helmand Province on March 1 as he searched for explosives with Theo, a bomb-sniffing springer spaniel mix. The dog suffered a fatal seizure hours later at a British army base, likely brought about by stress.

Military officials won't go so far as to say Theo died of a broken heart -- but that may not be far from the truth.

"I think we often underestimate the grieving process in dogs," said Elaine Pendlebury, a senior veterinarian with animal charity PDSA. "Some dogs react very severely to their partner's loss."

She said it was not uncommon for pets to respond to an owner's death by refusing food and becoming sick -- and the bond between working dogs and their handlers is especially close.

"The bonding that I have seen between soldiers or police and their dogs is fantastic. When you see them working together, it's really one unit."

A military Hercules plane carrying Tasker's body and Theo's ashes touched down Thursday at a Royal Air Force base in southwest England. As the funeral cortege of black vehicles drove slowly away, it was saluted by a long line of military dog handlers, their dogs at their sides. A black Labrador retriever sat quietly beside its handler as the hearse carrying the flag-draped coffin disappeared from view.

At the nearby town of Wootton Bassett, where people line the streets in a mark of respect each time a dead solder is repatriated, dozens stood silently -- some with dogs at their feet -- as Tasker's friends and family laid roses atop the hearse.

The Ministry of Defense said Theo's ashes would be presented to Tasker's family later at a private ceremony.

Tasker, 26, from Kirkcaldy in Scotland, spent six years as an army mechanic before joining the military working dog unit in 2007. He felt he had found his calling.

"I love my job and working together with Theo," Tasker said in a profile of the pair released by the Ministry of Defense before his death. "He has a great character and never tires. He can't wait to get out and do his job and will stop at nothing."

The soldier and the 22-month-old dog had been in Afghanistan for almost six months, uncovering roadside bombs and weapons in a dangerous daily routine.

Theo became a bit of a military celebrity last month after the defense ministry released photos and video of him and Tasker to highlight the lifesaving work of military dogs. The footage, now deeply poignant, shows Theo -- energetic, ears cocked, tail wagging -- alongside Tasker searching a compound for explosives.

The ministry said then that Theo had been so successful -- finding 14 hidden bombs and weapons caches, a record for a team in Afghanistan -- that the dog's tour of duty had been extended by a month.

Tasker was the 358th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Theo was the sixth British military dog killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001.

There are calls for Theo to receive the Dickin medal, which since 1943 has recognized wartime bravery by animals, from carrier pigeons to a World War II commando collie.

The loyalty of some dogs is legendary, from Greyfriars Bobby, a 19th-century Skye terrier who guarded his master's Edinburgh grave for 14 years, to Hachiko, a Japanese dog who awaited his owner's return at a train station every day for years after the man's death. Both are commemorated with statues.

Tasker's father, Ian, said Theo would have been devastated by Liam's death.

"I truly believe when Theo went back to the kennel, that that would have a big, big impact because Liam wasn't there to comfort him," he told ITV news.

Tasker's mother, Jane Duffy agreed. "I'm not nurse or a vet (but) I would like to believe (Theo) died of a broken heart to be with Liam," she told the broadcaster.

Tasker's colleague's recalled the soldier's bond with his dog and zealous attention to duty in tributes released by the defense ministry.

"A natural with animals, he had an affection for his dog that truly was a window to his soul," said Maj. Alexander Turner, a commander of Tasker's unit.

He "was here to save life, finding explosive devices that kill more farmers than combatants in our area," Turner said. "His fortitude and zeal for that perilous task was humbling; it imbued us all with confidence. He used to joke that Theo was impossible to restrain but I would say the same about Lance Corporal Tasker."

Tasker's uncle, Billy McCord, said the soldier had been due to leave Afghanistan soon and worried about being separated from Theo.

"He actually said at one point that when he finished his tour he was not sure what would happen to his dog and that he could be separated from his dog," McCord told the local Courier newspaper in Scotland. "That was preying on his mind, but they are not separated now."

Full Story

Dogs mourn for the ones they love.  Some deeper than others.  Theo was one of them in which even death could not part him from his beloved master.

I believe both have gone to a better place, a place of beauty, plenty and love. A place where the 2 of them are having the joy of friendship without having to risk their lives on the bombs that took their lives.