New ROE in A-stan

I've been working on a few bigger pieces, hence the delay in posting, but I wanted to highlight the shift in the Rules of Engagement for Afghanistan that was announced yesterday. I wish the piece had included the specific language but if this reading:

U.S. officials said the rules were designed to reduce the use of bombs, missiles and other heavy weaponry in populated areas. They will require U.S. forces that come under fire from militants operating out of houses and other buildings that may contain civilians to end the engagement and leave the area, officials said.

The restrictions could force commanders to be more cautious in the mission-planning stage and eschew operations likely to require operations in populated areas, according to an officer serving in Afghanistan.

The rules make clear exceptions for situations where the lives of U.S., North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Afghan personnel are in danger, U.S. officials said.

is correct, then this is really going to limit individual commanders options when planning operations. While I approve of the "population-centric" mindset that this change privileges, I'm a bit concerned that this is part of a general trend that allows high level commanders a much greater ability to micro-manage engagements, if the new RoEs are written in a way that requires troops on the ground to check in and justify the use of CAS.

h/t to Spencer Ackerman

UPDATE: more details and some good commentary here