U.S. Marines disarm to aid tsunami victims

Seattle Post Intelligence ^ | 1/11/05 | Eric Talmadge

[jpl]

If even so much as one single service member of ours gets killed or taken hostage over there because of this lunacy, I think you'll see the kind of outrage in this country that we haven't seen since 9/11.

My attitude at this point is to just say screw these ungrateful SOBs.

[Tfran]

To hear chairbound commandos second guessing the pro's in the military really irritates me.

Well forgive me for being a "chairbound" type, but sometimes our "pro's" in the military have to do stupid things because of "political correctness," not sound military judgement.

[Sarajevo]

And what, may I ask, does/did the USS Cole have to do with a humanitarian operation?

[JustAnAmerican]

You can presume all you want, but for the sake of argument, my qualifications are,

(1) I am an American Citizen.
(2) I possess enough intelligence to know that when a group says they want to kill you at all costs,and the "Police" who are guarding you very likely have members of this group in their ranks, to come unarmed is idiocy.

And I would be willing to bet none of the Military on-site were the ones to agree to this.

[JustAnAmerican]

Oh and as an aside please tell us how (using your photo), a Mustached/Bearded/Pony tailed individual could possibly be in a combat/Military position, which tells me that, using your logic, you have no right to say what will or will not work in a field position.

[CheneyChick]

It was the compliance to a requirement that we disarm the military. IMHO, the US military should remain armed on whatever operation is being conducted in a potentially hostile environment. I've participated on humanitarian Civil Affairs missions where we were armed "just in case". For the people receiving the humanitarian aid, they could care less. The ones who seem to care are the ones who seek to do us harm.

Beggars can't be choosers.... take it or leave it. That's my personal opinion on the matter.

Cheers, CC

[Blue Jays]

Hi All-

Sarajevo is a newbie FReeper around here. The dismissive attitude is very unbecoming of a former military member. Hopefully he will learn to comport himself with dignity and be more respectful of others.

~ Blue Jays ~

[Feckless]

One of my Bn Commanders coined a phrase... "The Evans School of Tact". One student, no graduates.

[Just Dan]

Thanks SE Mom.

Good Read.

[entreri]

This reminds me, during a pre-deployment pep talk one our generals said "There are two corps on this planet one is the Peace Corp, we joined the other..."

[entreri]

This also reminds me of the time I was in a certain S.A. country. When we left the boat we were REQUIRED to be armed. We were issued a 9mm concealed in a fanny pack.

[adam_az]

"I was a member of an SF company that marched into the mountains of southern Turkey/north Iraq in 1991 in response to the Kurdish Refugee Crisis, post Gulf War 1. We carried 60 rounds per man. The camp itself had an estimated population of 125,000 UNARMED, HUNGRY, refugees. Needless to say, we determined that we would NOT use deadly force against an unarmed refugee populace and turned our weapons in to the arms room! Instead, we armed ourselves with 5ft long sticks for crowd control."

"And you are?.......What are your qualifications to determine exactly what the personnel on the ground need? None, I presume."

Why would we want to listen to someone whose "vast experience" (cough cough) doesn't tell them that there's a big difference between a camp full of unarmed civillians and being in open country where islamic terrorists are known to operate? Your air of dismissive superiority makes you look even sillier.

[Blue Jays]

Hi TheForceOfOne-

"...I stand corrected..."
[Regarding whom should be allowed to carry weapons.]

---

It's not really a biggie. I feel that Americans should exercise their (domestic) rights more frequently. In this thread about soldiers entering Muslim-controlled areas overseas without benefit of defensive weapons...that's unsafe practice by any accounting.

~ Blue Jays ~

[A_perfect_lady]

"They didn't even want us to have protection like helmets and body armor, let alone weapons, because it might look threatening," said Foley, of Erie, Pa. "That's crazy."

This is enraging. This is NOT what our Marines are for, this is NOT why people join the military, for the most part, and if one single Marine is killed helping these people, I will hate them for all eternity. I know, they won't care, I'm just saying.

[Sarajevo]

Can you read?

retired Army veteran with a combined active and reserve service of over 23 years

to assist and support US military ops

Did I state that I'm currently in a combat position?

[Libertina]

If I were in charge of the military and they told my troops to disarm, our ship would be heading off to another nation that was greatful. And I would never look back.