Dear Mr. President, Do not engage ??? Seriously? Ms Anne de Bretagne says WEST PH SEA INCIDENTS WITH CHINA: Surely, the PH Commander-in-Chief has issued rules of engagement in West PH Sea. A member of PSCF says that Malacanang has said that ROE is Do not engage! To me, do not engage evokes all sorts of things, including the inability to follow the rules of the road at sea when a vessel confronts me (I am a jolly, old weekend sailor who makes use of follow-the-rules-of-the-road in sailing competitions...) So, I asked a Royal Navy officer - a retired officer commanding, if realistically, Do not engage! is a viable order. The answer is: Its a pointless order. He added, It is a highly ambiguous order at the very least. Citing examples, the Royal Navy officer said, What does commander in chief mean by do not engage? Define engagement. Does it mean, Do not pass within a certain distance? What if the other ship engages me? What do I do? What happens if the other ship approaches me and does not give way when it should? What level of provocation do I accept? If he fires at me, am I allowed to fire back? Does Dont engage mean that I will have to sit there while the other shoots me down? Rules of engagement can be quite complex. If the order is Dont engage without clarifying what it means, it could mean that you might as well stay out of the area. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori...
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 22:16:45 +0000