Gold Star Father praises Trump for abolishing Obama’s weak rules of engagement

Gold Star Father praises Trump for abolishing Obama’s weak rules of engagement
President Trump saluting the military

Billy Vaughn, father of fallen Navy SEAL Aaron Vaughn, heaped praise upon President Trump for his efforts to disband the Obama-era rules of engagement on the battlefield, freeing up military members on the ground to make their own decisions.

Aaron Vaughn, who was remembered by his brothers-in-arms as a “tough warrior” and “gentle man,” received numerous awards during his military career, including a Purple Heart and a Defense Meritorious Service Medal Joint Service Commendation Medal with “V” for valor.

He was killed, along with 29 other Americans and 16 members of the elite Navy SEALs, when his chopper was shot down in Afghanistan in 2011. The attack caused the single largest loss of American life in the history of the SEALs.

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

Billy believes his son “might be alive today” if strong rules of engagement had been in place at the time.

Vaughn explained that under Obama, helicopter pilots had a one-in-a-million chance of getting approval for “pre-assault fire” on enemy combatants from the administration. Their hands were effectively tied by the “suits” in Washington.

Trump is being credited with decimating ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan in a short amount of time, thanks in part to lifting requirements on rules of engagement.

The former head of U.S. Air Force intelligence, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, placed the blame for not being able to eliminate ISIS over the previous several years squarely on President Obama.

“The rules of engagement under the Obama administration were onerous,” he explained. “The limitations that were put on actually resulted in greater civilian casualties.”

Despite the fact their son was killed in Afghanistan thanks to the Obama administration’s rules of engagement, the president had little time to address the situation with Billy and Karen Vaughn personally. He wrote them an electronically signed form letter regarding the death of their son.

In 2014, the Vaughns penned an open letter of disgust to Obama for his lack of leadership in fighting terrorism.

“As Commander-in-Chief, your actions — or lack thereof — Mr. President, cost lives,” they wrote. “As you bumble about in your golf cart, slapping on a happy face and fist-pounding your buddies, your cowardly lack of leadership has left a gaping hole — not only in America’s security — but the security of the entire globe.”

They then suggested he resign.

“Your message has come across loud and clear, sir: You are not up to this job,” the Vaughns continued. “You know it. We know it. The world knows it.”

Fortunately, President Trump is up to the job, and he’s changing the theater of war back to a level in which our military can finally defeat the enemy.

Cross posted at the Mental Recession

Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss is editor of the Mental Recession, one of the top conservative blogs of 2012. His writings have appeared at the Daily Caller, American Thinker, FoxNews.com, Big Government, the Times Union, and the Troy Record.

Comments

For your convenience, you may leave commments below using Disqus. If Disqus is not appearing for you, please disable AdBlock to leave a comment.