The answer is yes, according to an unnamed senior military official interviewed for an article in The Washington Times.

This official estimated that scores of al Qaeda tracked by U.S. troops have made it safely to Pakistan the past week because approval to fire was not given promptly or not given at all. The al Qaeda ragtag troops are waiting for the cover of darkness, then leaving their caves to make the dangerous journey across the border.

The military official said the tight rules of engagement (ROE) are part of an overall policy of Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the campaign’s commander, to keep civilian, or collateral, casualties as low as possible. He does not want a group of civilians mistaken for al Qaeda troops and mistakenly killed.

[Follow-up story]

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