Rules of Engagement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rules of Engagement - Essay Example According to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, ‘In military or police operations, rules of engagement (ROE) determine when, where and how force shall be used.’ The rules of engagement are designed so as to ensure that uncontrolled violence is prevented, civilian casualties are minimized and the conflict does not escalate. However, restrictive rules of engagement undermine the ability of the military or police to resolve a conflict, as, according to many critics of the war, was the case in the US invasion of Vietnam (1959). The US president at the time, Lyndon Johnson, in order to contain the conflict set down strict rules of engagement that hindered the forces from striking or utilizing force in certain areas. This was done in order to thwart the perceived threat of Soviet or Chinese intervention and to gain support at home. President Johnson wanted the conflict to be restricted to South Vietnam, although aerial bombings in North Vietnam were allowed at certain point in the war. He believed the war was a counter-insurgency battle and the rules of engagement thus were justified. The Secretary of Defense, Robert Mcnamara, authored the rules of engagement. He saw the Vietnamese invasion as a ground war and thus saw little use of the US air force. Thus, the rules of engagement he designed restricted the aerial fighting the most. Mcnamara too saw the entire conflict as a counter-insurgency battle and thus tailored the rules of engagement to be such that most military strategies and moves were to be self-defensive. It was not until the Gulf of Tonkin incident in the August of 1964 that U.S. air strikes were allowed to be more aggressive. It is no surprise that the rules of engagement set down by the civilian suits in the government were not very popular with the military strategists. General William Westmoreland was a key architect of the military strategy. In order to avoid further disaster, he forbade any unit smaller then 750 men from

Review Righteous Dopefiend by Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg Essay

Review Righteous Dopefiend by Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg - Essay Example homeless who are always hustling for the drugs over food and shelter and evaluate the way in which this segment of society functions to create their own culture and system, specifically with the desire to have more heroin available for their use. Throughout the book, the author’s relay different segments of the homeless population to show the different functions and roles that are a part of the community. Different stories are told about the heroin users and how they work to create an aspect of society that is based on using illegal drugs. This is followed by ethnographic figures that take place through a series of photographs to show the lifestyle and conditions of the individuals that are a part of the community. Through the documents that were taken, was the ability to capture a space in society that is often regarded as morally wrong and which doesn’t account for the social truth and realities that the righteous dopefiend’s carry in culture. The main argument that the author present is to represent the homeless and the righteous dopefiend’s in a different light. The authors’ state in the beginning that the observations taken from the homeless are not regarded as one that is morally objective. Instead, the photographs and stories are an anthropological representation of culture and society. It is the authors’ desire to create a different viewpoint of the homeless that are addicted to heroin, not from a righteous or morally fit viewpoint, such as society views. Instead, the book is based on observing how the culture and society of homeless addicts functions. The book remains neutral and is not objective in observations and instead shows how the individuals survive and what they regard as important in their lives. The author combines this with evaluations from the segments of society, such as the difference between the younger addicts and the older generations. The main thesis that the authors’ are able to provide through these