Spot on. War is hell, and I'm not really concerned about complying with some pencil head's idea of "fair." And war should be hell. It should be brutal. It should be vicious. It should be ruthless and severe. Were it so, I suspect there would be a little bit less of it in the world today.
Weakness is provocative. ROE are a form of weakness. I can tolerate a respectable level of chivalry, but only if the opposing sides plays by the same rules. Otherwise, I will default to the meanest, nastiest set of rules being used by any given participant at the time. I would wage war to win. Not make friends. Global reputation be damned.
No ROE? So you think Americans should go over and act like terrorists while they police the world? Killing the civilian population indiscriminately? Capturing people off the streets for no reason to torture & decapitate them?
Hey, a few radicals on "their" side did it.