Soldier's beef about war has a familiar ring

The only way to know what it's really like in Iraq, a soldier told me recently, is to talk to someone who has actually been there, on the front lines.

So I did.

I talked to Seth Allen, a 23-year-old from Sandy who completed three tours in Iraq for the U.S. Marine Corps infantry and lived to tell about it.

He returned from his last tour this summer. When he stepped off the plane onto U.S. soil, he literally kissed the ground right there on the tarmac.

He considers himself lucky to have survived with nothing more than a small shrapnel wound. He figures three tours — a total of two years — are pushing the odds. Looking back, he is happy and proud to have served his country, which was a lifelong dream, but he did have one complaint about the war in Iraq.

It wasn't the staggering heat or the three-day reconnaissance missions with 160 pounds of equipment on his back.

It wasn't dodging bullets on almost a daily basis, although he would have preferred not to.

It wasn't even the threat of roadside bombs known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, one of which killed two comrades who were walking 20 yards behind him.

It wasn't being stuck in a barren foreign land while his buddies were home going to college and dating, although it certainly crossed his mind.

His complaint was this: "They didn't let us fight."

They're playing by two sets of rules in Iraq. The enemy has no rules. The Americans have so many rules that they have to think before they act, which can be hazardous to their health. Terrorists are directing one side, politicians the other.

When Allen pulled his first tour of Iraq, in 2004, the rules of engagement were simple: If you believe your life is in danger, you can engage, which is to say fire a weapon.

"No one (Iraqis) was allowed to carry guns, and if they had one, you could shoot, although we didn't do that — we would detain them and take their gun," says Allen.

By the time he returned for his second and third tours, the rules had changed. Iraqis were allowed to carry guns and even rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the street, and American soldiers could no longer engage threats except under certain circumstances.

"If a gun is pointed at the ground or straight up, you can't engage," explains Allen. "If they bring it up or down and break the 90-degree plane, we could engage, but by then it was too late. What it boils down to is this: You have to be shot at before you can engage. It's ridiculous."

If soldiers are approached by strangers with uncertain intent, they are expected to follow an escalation-of-force protocol known as "shout (stop!), show (a weapon), shove, shoot." The trouble is, if an enemy is allowed to approach within shoving distance, it could be much too late.