There’s an interesting article here about how much freer private citizens are (in most states) to defend themselves than our troops are.
While our troops are definitely too restricted right now, I think we always want our troops more restricted than private citizens: We’re giving them training and equipment for them to represent us and project our power abroad, and everything they do does have consequences outside of just two individuals fighting.
Our troops need to be able to effectively project their force and defend themselves, and the more effectively they’re allowed to do that, the less they will have to. But the flip-side is that destroying mosques, or even much less symbolic buildings, or many of the other things that soldiers could do to more effectively defend themselves can hurt the very cause they’re trying to achieve. It’s a careful balance to strive for.
