II Marine Expeditionary Force Now in Jordan

Global Security.org ^ | March 26, 2003 | US Forces 'Order of Battle' staff memo

[ewing]

The II Marine Expeditionary Force is now believe to be located in Jordan.

This analysis is based on news reports coming out of North Carolina indicating that some 11,000 Marines in addition to the 2nd MEB have departed Camp Lejune.

[Dog]

Something you need to see here...

[dogbyte12]

left hook part II.

I wonder how much the generals were grinning inside while the doomsayers were complaining down south.

[OldFriend]

The most horrifying thing to me is the folks on our side suggesting we must stop prosecuting the war this way and 'flatten' Baghdad. Sounds like people want to emulate the Janet Reno / WACO model and kill the people to save them. What has happened to logic.

I hope and pray that innocent lives will be spared and I have confidence in our administration to do the right thing.

Pray for our troops.

[honway]

This is great news, if true. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
There have been hints about something like this from the Pentagon briefings.

[Dog]

Ping.......for more info.

[B-Chan]

The anvil is already in theater. Here comes the hammer.

And Saddam's nuggets are right in between.

Ouch, that's gonna hurt...

[aristeides]

Reminds me of Manstein/Guderian War in the West: the Iraqis have now been induced to advance south from Baghdad. They won't like what's about to hit them from behind.

[Trust but Verify]

Thanks for the ping. This is hughly series!

[SENTINEL]

Gulf of Aqaba to Baghdad ~600 miles. this completely bypasses Isreal. Don't forget that about a year ago Jordan was complaining that Iraq had sent a bunch of tanks through it's southern desert right to the border with Isreal !!

I swear I read something about Jordan closing off it's south eastern border area over the last couple of weeks. This could have been to mask II MEF's movement !

[AFPhys]

Absolutely regarding Schwartzkopf's gloating. I recall it well - sweet. There is definitely a whole load of stuff going on behind the curtain this year, too.

[honway]

What has happened to logic.

Logic is not the problem, differing assumptions are the problem.

It seems you assume the Iraqi people want to be liberated by an infidel nation.

It is easy to assume all the people in the world share our values and aspirations. Sadly, that is not always the case.

Have you considered the question, what if the Iraqi people do not want liberation from a nation their religion labels as infidel?

Iraq is a threat to the U.S. and their ability to threaten the U.S. must be removed, that's the mission. Getting too caught up in the rhetoric would be a mistake, imo.

[Dog]

Any able to figure out why the RG is charging south??

[Paraclete]

I have believed from the beginning there is some kind of Western front. Maybe it's just the 101st keeping a cork on the Baghdad bottle. But it seems there's a huge risk of leaving the entire north and west of Baghdad in the hands of the 101st. Maybe we believe we can contain it with lethal airpower, but I still believe there are stronger infantry powers to the West we aren't really aware of. Also, once in a while I pick up on the British armored piercing to the northwest along the Iranian border more or less. But not much is said about this prong.

There's more going on than meets the eye.

[EarlyBird]

...wouldn't this allow us to offload II MEF in Isreal and drive through Isreal, Jordan and on to Bugdead ?

Here's some of a post of mine on 3/6/03:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/856800/posts

Turkey may be a good example. They will not receive the $20 billion in aid because they voted against us. Therefore we have to go to Plan B, which seems to be staging from Saudi Arabia and Jordan. I suspect that some of Turkey's $20 billion in aid is now going to SA and Jordan in return for their cooperation, which is very difficult domestically for them."

And this from 3/4/03:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/858273/posts

Crossing Jordan, eh? I like it. Actually I made a pun about it last night when my wife told me what she was watching on TV.

The troops could actually unload in Jordan, couldn't they? In Aqaba? I made a joke some days ago on a thread saying that the 3 mystery ships were actually ours and they were waiting for a stealthy dock time in Aqaba.

[LS]

You are exactly right on that report. I remember it too. I'm telling you, there is something odd about that "tent city" out there.

[Bahbah]

"They took our main weakness -- freedom of the press -- and turned it into a strength."
An excellent example of thinking outside of the box.

[CyberAnt]

HooYa!!

[EarlyBird]

Great minds think alike, eh?

[Crossbow Eel]

Where did the 70,000 Army troops with 400 tanks sent to Saudi go?

They are just east of Bagdad but nothing in the news. The Saudies wouldn't let any reporters in with them so where did they go?

[Dog]

Ping!