To the Point

The Rules of Engagement

When a car failed to stop at a checkpoint near Najaf, US soldiers opened fire, killing at least seven women and children. Though it-s unclear whether a warning shot had been fired, there-s no doubt that distinguishing between combatants and innocent civilians is a major challenge for coalition forces in Iraq. That surrendering soldiers might be suicide bombers, an ambulance with a pregnant woman might be rigged to explode, or the -patient- could be a Fedayeen in disguise makes for agonizing, split-second decisions. We speak with experts in counterterrorism, international politics, and military law and history about the rules of engagement in a televised war being fought in part for the -hearts and minds- of Iraqis and other Arabs. Making News: Post-War Iraq Britain-s Guardian newspaper reports that members of a US-controlled interim government of Iraq already are arriving in Kuwait. Although senior officials in the Bush administration differ on details, plans are for a government of 23 ministries, each headed by an American and supported by Iraqi advisors. Luke Harding, who co-wrote the story, has more details, including conflicting preferences from Prime Minister Blair-s government. Reporter's Notebook: A Taste of Combat at County-USC Victims of warfare can be shot, stabbed, beaten or subjected to other forms of trauma-causing violence. Doctors once learned on the battlefield, but since Vietnam, there have been no big wars, except in American cities. So, for duty in the war in Iraq, the US Navy is training doctors at the County-USC Hospital in Los Angeles where Peter Rhee is director of the Navy Trauma Training Center.