Petraeus and the “Mercy Rule”
There’s been plenty of discourse about McChrystal and Petraeus and how this plays out with Obama’s prior comments about Petreaus but one thing that hasn’t been widely covered is the following: “courageous restraint”. Dr. J wrote in a few days ago (sorry, sometimes the timeline gets really screwed up when I jump around) with the following:
Please see the link below…
Do you think that the Courageous Restraint policy has its roots in the ‘Mercy Rule’ in kids sports?
While I don’t think it has its roots in the ‘Mercy Rule’, the net result parallels that of the ‘Mercy Rule’ pretty well. A Marine commander in Iraq recently said (of the “courageous restraint” policy, “They teach us not to second-guess our decisions in dangerous situations. When people second-guess themselves they can be putting lives at risk.” And a recent Washington Examiner article concluded with the following statement in an article discussing the NATO medal for “courageous restraint”:
That said, let it be known that we’re now training soldiers to not defend themselves in the case of an angry mob attack. Which also means that we may be training angry mobs to not fear soldiers.
The parallel? What does it teach kids when they have to either think about or the referee/umpire ends a game because they were following all the (rest of) rules of the game? Instilled at a young age, it is something that coaches in later years need to work against – can you imagine John Riggins or the Hogs showing “courageous restraint”? Can you imagine the reaction of a NFL head coach like Mike Ditka to a “courageous restraint” (or mercy rule) policy?
I think the best option I’ve read is this from the Washington Examiner article – “The bottom line is I have to find a way to go to sleep at night,” said Graham (Captain in the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment). “If I hurt women and children, I’m not going to sleep. If I lose my men, I’m not going to sleep. I have to find a balance.”
Maybe they should watch this remix:
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