Posted on 05/27/2014 6:18:56 PM PDT by mandaladon
The US is sending 1,000 Marines in an amphibious assault ship to Libya's coast as a “precautionary” move should the US embassy require evacuation, a US official said. Security concerns also led the US to suggest Americans in Libya "depart immediately."
Adding to tensions, gunmen attacked the Tripoli home of Libya’s new prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeq, on Tuesday. Businessman Maiteeq, 42, and his family escaped harm, according to AFP.
An aide to Maiteeq said "there was an attack with rockets and small arms on the prime minister's house" in Tripoli at 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT). Maiteeq’s guards opened fire on the attackers, wounding and arresting two of them, the official added.
In reaction to the heightened strife in Libya, the USS Bataan, stocked with several helicopters in addition to the Marines, is to be in the nation’s coastal area “in a matter of days,” an anonymous US defense official said, according to AFP.
The preemptive move is a reaction to increasingly violent militia battles, which could threaten the American embassy’s security, the official said. Based on escalating security concerns, the US State Department recommended Tuesday that Americans in Libya "depart immediately."
"Due to security concerns, the Department of State has limited staffing at Embassy Tripoli and is only able to offer very limited emergency services to US citizens in Libya," the travel warning said.
The US also has 250 available Marines, seven Osprey combat aircraft, and three refueling aircraft in Sigonella, Italy, AFP reported.
The State Department said last week that its embassy in Tripoli was operating as usual despite offensives launched by a dissident general, Khalifa Haftar, against the Libyan parliament and Islamist factions.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Zahawi, the head of Libya’s Ansar Al-Sharia militant group in Benghazi, warned against any US interference in the nation’s ongoing tumult.
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
Early life and education
Rice was born in Washington, D.C.,[5] to Emmett J. Rice (1919–2011), Cornell University economics professor and the second black governor of the Federal Reserve System;[5] and education policy scholar Lois (née Dickson) Fitt, currently at the Brookings Institution.[6] Her maternal grandparents were Jamaican.[7] Her parents divorced during her youth.[citation needed] She is not related to former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Rice was a three-sport athlete, student council president, and valedictorian at National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., a private girls’ day school.[8] She played point guard in basketball and directed the offense, acquiring the nickname Spo, short for “Sportin’”.[8]
Troops are probably needed to take out witnesses that could tell what really went on at Benghazi.
20 months late.
Now THAT’s response to be proud of.
/s
Hafter fled Libya for US, and for almost 20 years lived in Langley,VA in shadow of Pentagon . Not a secret ,he was one of agents used on the ground to mrk munition depots for NATO to bomb fighting Gaddafi.
Our Shiite Muslim Brotherhood President sends in American troops against another peaceful Sunni....
Now ain’t you glad we got rid of Gaddafi!
One ship?
Really?
Active Dity ping.
Its not the ship that matters so much. 1000 Marines can make quite an impression. Seriously.
1000 Marines and a capable shit with the right ordinance can leave quite a depression.
Ship Ship! That’s suppose to say Ship!
A group of 100 terrorists were going up a valley when they seen a young Marine on top of the hill shouting and flipping them the bird. The commander sent 10 men up the hill to kill the infidel. After a brief fire fight the young Marine appeared again this time mooning the men in the valley. The commander barked at his second in command and told him to take the rest of the men up the hill and bring back his head. 45 minutes later the second in command comes dragging down the hill shot up and bleeding screaming “It’s a trap, there’s two of them”!
The 1000 Marines are most likely the current MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) on a Med float. The Marines out of Italy are the FAST (Fleet Anti Terrorism Security Team) company. Both are trained in NEOs (Non Evacuation Operations) which would be what is called for here.
Whoops, NEO stands for Non Combat Evacuation Operations, not Non Evacuation Operations.
Benghazi ping.
Let Republicanprofessor know if you want on or off this ping list.
Imagine, if you can, the hissy fit that Commander in Chief Obama would throw if during a sworn hearing of the Benghazi House Committee, Chairman Trey Gowdy asked Obama: “Where were you, and what were you doing during the night of September 11, 2012?”
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