Posted on 09/17/2014 2:20:06 PM PDT by No One Special
Obama is sending 3,000 troops to West Africa to stop the deadly outbreak. But 250,000 people could already be infected by Christmas.
As the Ebola epidemic in West Africa accelerates beyond the capacity to count its toll, an unprecedented escalation in global support is evident, led by U.S. President Barack Obama's call for U.S. military intervention. In what will amount to the largest humanitarian commitment since the American response to the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, the White House announced late on Sept. 15 that an estimated 3,000 military personnel will deploy to the Ebola-ravaged West African nations, alongside a significant increase in civilian mobilization.
Obama committed the United States, in what the White House has dubbed Operation United Assistance, to spend some $750 million and deploy up to 3,000 U.S. military personnel, primarily targeting Ebola control in Liberia. The president formally announced the operation on Sept. 16 in a speech at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
During his speech earlier today he reassured Americans that "the chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low." However, when it came to the potential devastation Ebola posed to West Africa, he was adamant about its urgency:
"In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before. It's spiraling out of control. It is getting worse.... And if the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected, with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us. So this is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security -- it's a potential threat to global security...."
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
Me thinks this is apoorly veiled chance for CDC to test out their Ebola “vaccine” on the military, since I would imagine they are ALL going to get it before they deploy.
Naw. It’s a Gen-Y-Me virus. Just tease it until it cries and falls apart.
The first good article on this operation that I have seen.
Will any African nation ever be able to take care of itself?
Let the AU deal with this mess.
I could if the US had the resources to do it. We've had diseases walk across our southern border, and those bringing them settled all over the US. We've got veterans dying in the streets because their VA medical care is such a scandal.
How about countries with experience dealing with tropical diseases step up? And the US start worrying about the US.
ISIS ain't stupid, and we're more vulnerable if we use all those resources in Africa.
“This is not how we should use our military personnel.”
President Clinton declared war on AIDS in Africa and deployed combat units to “fight” it. I recall seeing photos of a Marine in combat dress diapering a baby. Democrats love declaring war on something and sending in the military to handle social issues. Clinton shifted the military spares budget to handle his various causes with the result being that after 8 years on any given day half of the Air Force and Navy planes could not fly for want of a critical item. Many of the companies that supplied these spares went out of business so the next procurement was doubly expensive.
And if they fail, you want to explain your lack of action to the survivors in America after 200 million Americans have died from it?
The risk is too high. The WTO has been criminally negligent and incompetent to let it spread this far. I don't think Africa is competent to step up, either.
We have the resources to do it. And it might actually be good training for our troops on dealing with biohazards.
The problem with the border and with the VA is not resources but political will. Both cases are sad and criminally negligent. But that’s the consequences of electing both a rat Senate and a rat POTUS.
Well if you support it then you go over there and help. But the military has no business getting involved in this operation. What will they be doing next - passing out welfare checks?
But I am concerned whether this administration can competently administer the aid and keep our troops safe while doing so.
The problem is if they don't try, our troops won't be safe anywhere, except on a ship or nuclear sub that never ports. So I'm for Ebola intervention.
The military is there to protect us from threats foreign and domestic. Ebola is the biggest threat out there right now.
If the soldiers sent are not “obama’s people” he doesn’t care...to send the military is like using them for cannon fodder. The military does not fight virus.
Yes. There were resources at the VA, too
.....but they were not delivered in a timely fashion.
According to the article.
"The key elements of military response will focus on logistics, supplies, engineering, support for the Accra, Ghana, "air bridge" for transport of supplies and personnel to the epidemic, and the construction of at least 17 new hospital facilities designated for Ebola care.
The military will also build a training facility, which will rapidly teach infection control and self-protection procedures to hundreds of local and foreign health workers. The military hopes to process up to 500 health workers, both civilians and humanitarian responders, in a week."
Methinks someone has created a hockey-stick graph of the projected ebola outbreak to stimulate massive funding for this “war”.
“And if they fail, you want to explain your lack of action to the survivors in America after 200 million Americans have died from it?”
Fear mongering nonsense. We don’t live in our own filth like they do. We don’t eat infected bats. We don’t personally wash our diseased dead.
This is not a mission for the US military.
“I’d think this would be the perfect opportunity for the older Obama daughter to do some mission/outreach work. Let an Obama go personally to the Ebola-infected nations to work beside U.S. troops.”
Bingo! They need to get some skin in the game.
> Methinks someone has created a hockey-stick graph of the projected ebola outbreak to stimulate massive funding for this “war”.
Especially when 0bummer can bow to or negotiate with it.../s
I’ve been in for over 20, and I may be biased, so take this with a grain of salt. Our NBC training is nothing like civilian or hazardous response training. Our job is to survive long enough to complete the mission in any environment. Think of it as a last great act of defiance.
Not exactly the mindset needed for a humanitarian mission that has no oversight and no strategic objective.
What is the purpose? Containment? Are we going to gun down victims as they attempt escape from quarantine? Are we going to guard medical facilities against mobs who are crazed and scared out of their wits? Who holds CNC? What are the ROEs?
Unless we are willing to set the rules, our troops will be ineffective unless you count it a success being guinea pigs. I, for one, don’t.
If you want to volunteer, I’ll be happy to help you.
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