"In a sign of the nervousness surrounding Mr. Panetta’s trip, the Marines and other troops who were waiting in a tent for the defense secretary to speak were abruptly asked by their commander to get up, place their weapons — M-16 and M-4 automatic rifles and 9-mm pistols — outside the tent and then return unarmed. The commander, Sgt. Maj. Brandon Hall, told reporters he was acting on orders from superiors."
Not that they wouldn
t have been in any case, but don’t they have a show weapon for parades etc?
Like in flight training, for instance, jets don’t have weapons loaded.
Nothing they do surprises me anymore...
Freaking Marxist coward!
Wake up military... Your nothing but pawns in his world.
WOW. What an insult.
Not quite as bad as when they had to patrol the streets of Beirut without ammo.
Actually, it is a common practice by the Secret Service to have the bolts removed from the weapons. When President Bush visited us in Somalia, we had to remove the bolts from our weapons. (we kept them in our pockets.)
They’re carrying M14s which was the issued rifle when I entered the Corps in 1969. The M16 was issued in the combat zone at the time. I would think that these are parade rifles since they look more like the public would expect in a parade formation or drill event. The Marine Silent Drill Team still uses them I believe.
Now, why would they have the bolts removed? It could be because they don’t trust the troops. You can still obtain 7.62 rounds and there is no telling what stupid things a young marine might do.
It is very important that the left has two very mistaken ideas about the military (among its surfeit of other mistaken and horrible ideas).
The first is that military personnel are just ignorant thugs who are in the military because they are too stupid and violent to work in minimum wage jobs like digging ditches. In effect no different than violent thugs in prison.
Thus the left is utterly contemptuous of them, and, importantly, thinks that *anyone* could do what they do. They imagine they could just empty out the prisons, give the prisoners uniforms and guns, and they would be soldiers.
Their second very mistaken idea is that these “stupid thugs” in the military will always obey the orders given them, by just about anyone who pretends they have authority.
The recent, brief assertion, that all flag grade officers who said they would refuse orders to “fire on American citizens” have been relieved of duty, actually is in line with this mistaken leftist belief.
They assume that *anyone* can put on a general’s uniform, and the mindless drones that are their “subordinates” will obey them without question.
The left actually believes this nonsense. However, at the same time they are deeply paranoid about the military, thinking that it is a reckless and dangerous organization that could turn on the left like a wild animal.
So they also hate it and fear it, along with their contempt of it. They can barely conceal this hatred and fear at the best of times. Movies like “Seven Days in May” (1964) reflect what they really think.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058576/
I was in Coast Guard Boot Camp when we were ordered to march in LBJ’s State funeral in DC. We carried M16’s at sling arms with empty clips.
Those are M1 parade rifles. Chances are they have been deactivated for a generation or better. They may not even have bolts any longer. They may have chamber plugs welded in place as well. Many parade rifles do. They appear to have M1 bayonets fitted. I wonder if those were real or were rubber parade props? That detail would be telling.
I marched in Nixon’s 1973 inaugural with an M1 parade rifle, including chamber plug and welded bolt. Bayonet was real.
Only an EVIL TYRANT would have something to fear from US Marines.
In a perverse way, I find that to be a hopeful sign.
Shoot (as a euphemism for sh**), the SS learned from Egypt’s assassination of Anwar Sadat.
IOW, they were sitting ducks. Expect to see more of this free target practice staged for our enemies.