Can the U.S. Army Degrade and Destroy Ebola?

Foreign Policy ^ | September 16, 2014 | Laurie Garrett

[No One Special]

Obama is sending 3,000 troops to West Africa to stop the deadly outbreak. But 250,000 people could already be infected by Christmas.

As the Ebola epidemic in West Africa accelerates beyond the capacity to count its toll, an unprecedented escalation in global support is evident, led by U.S. President Barack Obama's call for U.S. military intervention. In what will amount to the largest humanitarian commitment since the American response to the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, the White House announced late on Sept. 15 that an estimated 3,000 military personnel will deploy to the Ebola-ravaged West African nations, alongside a significant increase in civilian mobilization.

Obama committed the United States, in what the White House has dubbed Operation United Assistance, to spend some $750 million and deploy up to 3,000 U.S. military personnel, primarily targeting Ebola control in Liberia. The president formally announced the operation on Sept. 16 in a speech at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

During his speech earlier today he reassured Americans that "the chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low." However, when it came to the potential devastation Ebola posed to West Africa, he was adamant about its urgency:

"In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before. It's spiraling out of control. It is getting worse.... And if the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected, with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us. So this is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security -- it's a potential threat to global security...."

[GraceG]

We can destroy ebola the same way that Pickett’s Charge worked so damned well.....

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Can the U.S. Army Degrade and Destroy Ebola?

Well....yes.... if that is what you want.... But are you sure you want that?

Beware what you ask for.

[ansel12]

It’s hard to believe that there is an article at the top of this thread that answers some of what you don’t know, but there is.

[goat granny]

gee, those are pretty colors,

[ansel12]

The chart was intended to help you learn about the military involvement in disease.

[BerryDingle]

We tried meals on wheels in Somalia. Somalia’s welcome wagon kicked our butt.

[Major Matt Mason]

Don't agree with the view put forth in the article that airlines are wrong in limiting flights. To the contrary, the airlines are right in limiting travel to and from those countries. How do you think the virus is spreading, after all? If anything, it is irresponsible not to essentially quarantine those countries. Doing this and fighting the virus aren't exclusive of one another, deliveries of needed supplies can still be made via non-commercial air transport.

[goat granny]

Had 2 son's in the military, one Air Force one Navy, have grandson make Staff Sergent in the Air Force recently, don't need some bureaucratic chart to tell me about the military...They don't fight virus. but they do have doctors and nurses in the military, that is not new news....boots on the ground is not sending medical aid to that country..

[ansel12]

Actually this doesn’t sound so unusual as a military human aid, military operation, we have gone into a number of places with large numbers to render aid.

Regardless of what your kids or I personally did or do while in.

[goat granny]

your welcome to your opinion....I’ll stick with mine

[ansel12]

I’m not even sure what your opinion is, or what it is based on.

[upchuck]

I wonder which political lackey first suggested using the word degrade in this context?

Political newspeak anyone?

[brooklin]

They are probably as good as the CDC actually.

http://www.usamriid.army.mil/

[palmer]

Ebola is the biggest threat out there right now.

It is. Also it is fairly easy to deal with given the right infrastructure. The countries involved do not have the infrastructure to fight it quickly. We can build that infrastructure quickly with a low risk to our soldiers.

[plain talk]

The military is there to protect us from threats foreign and domestic. Ebola is the biggest threat out there right now

Military threats. There is no military threat requiring troops in Africa. Let Africa, UN, peace corp and related organizations deal with it ... or not. The worst thing we can do is facilitate travel back and forth by thousands of people to that hellhole which will spread the disease to the US mainland.

[abclily]

Obama and the CDC are hell-bent on importing e-bola to the U.S.

[PLMerite]

“Can the U.S. Army Degrade and Destroy Ebola?”

After a fashion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO2-YxWkRxk

[ransomnote]

Obama spoke of building his own personal army equal in size to the military. Why doesn’t he send those? All the DHS ammo purchases went somewhere, right? Or does he need our military, loyal to the US, to be far away so that his personal militia can step up and try to take their place?

[antidisestablishment]

You’re absolutely right. I guess my reflexive anti-Obama attitude got the best of me.

I am still not convinced that our troops can do much, but we need to do something. It’s just hard contemplating a strategy when so much is unknown at this point.

Damn those Chinese curses anyway! At this point, I’d rather live in boring times.

[DannyTN]

It only takes one sick passenger with a connecting flight from any country in the world. So we are already facilitating thousands traveling back and forth.

If ebola continues to spread at the rate it's spreading, it won't belong before Ebola hops a plane. If we can stop it spreading and get it quarantined, we have a chance to keep it from ever making that flight.

The military has the discipline to put procedures in place to make sure that people don't travel sick. The military could actually quarantined it's members for 21 days. Nobody else has the guts to do that.