The rules of engagement are more than simply a film. They are rules that the army has to follow in all wars. It is basically what they can and cannot do in certain situations. For those of you that have seen “Black Hawk Down”, there is a moment when one of the character states that they cannot fire upon people unless fired upon. This is a rule of engagement. It is a way of making sure that war is conducted lawfully (They genuinely have these, and they are taken VERY seriously).
The thing that interested me is getting a copy of these. Wouldn't it be great to see what these people have to follow. So I sent a little email off to the Ministry of Defence asking:
Please can you give me the rules of engagement that was given to troops during the first Gulf War in 1990
The reasons is because I was very interested in getting some information on what the troops were allowed to do at this time (That and I was hoping to send a follow up about the second Iraq War).
Unsurprisingly this wasn't answered the way that I wanted. I basically got the statement that this is not in national interest and that it could affect the working procedures about how the troops were briefed. Again fair enough (let's wait until 2020 when they are released to the National Archive, eh?).
Due to section 16, however, I found that there was a whole lot more that was out there that we can have a little look at. There is a section on the www.gov.uk which brings together all of the documents on the law of armed conflict. It does give a very good insight into what has been said and what they are allowed to do. Having read a little bit of it, I can say it was a bit dry, but once you got past the dryness, you realised what the troops can do (It's also in sections so be warned).
The more I start poking about, the more I realise that there is a wealth of knowledge out there. There is far more than you can imagine on the Government's website. It’s just a case of finding it.
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