Free Republic

Using a Tactic Unseen in a Century, Countries Cordon Off Ebola-Racked Areas The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is so out of control that governments there have revived a disease-fighting tactic not used in nearly a century: the “cordon sanitaire,” in which a line is drawn around the infected area and no one is allowed out. Cordons, common in the medieval era of the Black Death, have not been seen since the border between Poland and Russia was closed in 1918 to stop typhus from spreading west. They have the potential to become brutal and inhumane. Centuries ago, in their...

"Tell Lieutenant Jacobson to meet us there with a bag of money," Lieutenant Colonel Joe Gandara shouts into his headset as his Humvee rumbles down the highway into Dora, a Baghdad district synonymous with violence. Gandara, a stocky 42-year-old, was heading to pay a group of children who had volunteered to pick up some of the rubbish that blights Dora, where insecurity has kept away the garbage trucks. The predominantly Sunni district south of the Tigris River has been ravaged by the sectarian bloodshed that pits Sunnis against Shi'ites, killing scores in Baghdad every week. Until last Monday that is,...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 22, 2003Release Number: 03-12-55 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TASK FORCE “ALL AMERICAN” CONDUCTS OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS AR RAMADI, Iraq – Soldiers from Task Force “All American” continue missions aimed at assisting local Iraqis in the reconstruction effort and stopping violence in the Al Anbar province. During the last 24 hours, we conducted 204 patrols, including 25 joint patrols with the Iraqi Border Guard and Iraqi police. Soldiers also carried out 16 offensive operations. During these operations, there were...