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2200 marines go shoeless.. ?

Steve

Well-known member
Obama rules out U.S. ground troops in Libya

March 18, 2011. Obama on Friday explicitly ruled out deploying ground troops into Libya

Camp Lejeune Marines To Libya To Strike At Qadhafi Forces

An ABC affiliate in North Carolina says more than 2,000 U.S. Marines are on the ground in Libya.

WCTI-TV in New Bern reports those Marines, assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) at Camp Lejuene, are "preserving the sanctity of the city [of Ajdubiyah] and the safety of the civilians within it."

Capt. Timothy Patrick with the 26th MEU told the station: "In Libya right now they are doing exactly what we need them to do. They are doing what they are told, and right now that's protecting Libyan people against Qadhafi forces."

Evidently the Marines' efforts are being successful. The commanding officer of the 26th MEU, Col. Mark Desens, says that following a second round of strikes by AV-8B Harrier jets, the Libyan dictator's forces "are now less capable of threatening the town than before."

No Troops In Libya? 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Embarks To Libya With 2,200 Marines


according to top sources every one knows the Army is ground troops
so by ordering the marines to be shoeless in this mission the President is keeping his word.. and more.

no one will be able to accuse him of putting boots on the ground either..
 

Cowpuncher

Well-known member
I checked on this with an ex-marine who is in the know. Most likely, these marines are on a ship just offshore. They are in a Marine Expeditionary Unit which can hover about anywhere they want. They were involved in the rescue of the two downed pilots where some Libyan civilians were killed, though its now known if the Marines were the ones who killed the Libyans since they were apparently killed by aircraft fire.

The moral of the story is that if a plane goes down in enemy territory, stay the hell away from it.

These MEUs have several Harrier fighter jets on board since they can take off and land without runways.

It pretty amazing to be on a ship and look up and see a fighter jet flying alongside at 25 knots. (That is from personal experience.)
 

Steve

Well-known member
Most likely, these marines are on a ship just offshore. They are in a Marine Expeditionary Unit

they are on the USS Kearsarge,

but listening to Obama's stern warning that we will not put boots on the ground, 2200 marines seems a bit excessive for rescue operations..

the cost alone of keeping a large detachment deployed is huge,. especially if your adamant about not using them..
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Reminds me of the quote by Teddy Roosevelt - Walk softly but carry a big stick. Don't agree with Obama on very much of anything, but having our military at the ready in the most vulnerable region of the world might not be such a bad idea. With all of the chaos happening, noone can be certain what can happen or when we may need to step in.
 

Steve

Well-known member
BAR BAR 2 said:
Reminds me of the quote by Teddy Roosevelt - Walk softly but carry a big stick. Don't agree with Obama on very much of anything, but having our military at the ready in the most vulnerable region of the world might not be such a bad idea. With all of the chaos happening, noone can be certain what can happen or when we may need to step in.

I don't disagree with you, we should be overly prepared to step in.. but Obama has been adamant in saying we will not under any circumstances step in..
so why have troops you claim you will not use in any circumstances?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Steve, I don't have any better idea as to his intentions than anyone else. I'm just glad that we are in a position to take a proactive stance if need be, rather than a reactive stance. Now, just because we are in that position, doesn't mean the powers that be will actually do the right thing. But again, with all of the turmoil and different bad possibillities that could happen, I'm glad we are there. The situation looks to me as if it is changing and escalating daily. What he says and does from day to day may change. I'm not taking up for him by any means. I'm just glad he bumbled his way into hopefully doing the right thing. A blind hog finds an acorn every now and then. Let's hope he has found an acorn.
 
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