There is nothing much I can add here that will do this clip justice.
It is definitely a must-watch.
Amanda Carpenter made a great point yesterday on Twitter, as this was airing:
Dakota Meyer’s story should cause a serious re-evaluation of our current rules of engagement policy.
She’s absolutely right. According to this ’60 Minutes’ report, two unnamed Army officers took the fall for refusing to send in backup when Meyer requested it. And they deserved every bit of that reprimand in my opinion, regardless of what the stinkin’ rules of engagement are.
But the rules of engagement definitely played a role in how this particular incident in the Battle of Ganjgal played out (transcript via CBS News):
With an estimated 100-150 enemy fighters dug in on the high ground above them, the Marines called for artillery fire from a nearby base. The first rounds missed so First Lt. Michael Johnson, one of the four Marines trapped inside the village, radioed new coordinates of the enemy positions. But the commanders in the operations center, back at the base, refused to fire.
“They denied it. The Army denied it and told him it was, it was too close the village. . . And he said, ‘Too close to the village?’ And the last words I heard him say was, ‘If you don’t give me these rounds right now I’m going to die,'” Meyer said.
“Did he get the artillery fire?” Martin asked.
“No, he didn’t. The response was basically, ‘Try your best,'” Meyer said.
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