The rules of engagement have since changed to a combat operation as security deteriorated.
The concept of murder during a combat operation simply wasn't raised.
"In 2003 President Bush launched a large-scale combat operation in Iraq.
See articleIn this section The world this week KAL's cartoon ReprintsNATO officially ended its 13-year combat operation in Afghanistan.
Last week an Ibama ranger was shot in a confrontation with loggers during a fire combat operation.
Bismillah Khan, the police chief in the Zhari District, confirmed that the combat operation there began on Saturday, but he declined to give further details.
Congress applauded the president for notifying it about this small noncombat mission but did nothing about having its laws ignored in the much larger combat operation in Libya.
This is the first large-scale combat operation involving multiple objectives in Kandahar Province, where a military offensive was originally expected to begin in June.
Vann fulfilled his vow to Ziegler that every separate unit participating in a combat operation would have an American adviser attached to it.
The officials left open the possibility, however, that other American forces, like Special Operations soldiers, had been moved aboard the helicopters as part of a combat operation.
Others point out that the disruption of relieving a regimental commander during a combat operation could well have slowed down the mission.
