Several *dozen* Marines? Christ, what happened to the days when they sent a battalion to evacuate folks? Also, that article seems to suggest that the Marines are on standby for an evacuation mission, not an intervention.

Could somebody responsible start talking about an American peacekeeping corps? We seem to be short a couple light divisions...

Mitch

Bush has been calling for the leader of the country to resign, and as such has not offered nor promised to interfere in the insurrection there. The U.S. interest is about protecting our own people.
Maybe it's time the French or the Germans got up off their butts and played peacekeeper for awhile, in the case of the French, doing something else besides hiding at airports and conquering deserted villages.

Anybody up on Charlie Taylor??? We don't need any stinkin' Marine 'divisions' to deal with an extraction. And that's just about as much as I see us having to do here. GWB told him to resign! He can't understand the English language? Get our people the hell out of Liberia. Soon. If the UN wants to send a bunch of French, German and Russian troops in there to 'keep the peace'(read that, prop that asshat up), then let 'em have a go. Otherwise, I say our plate is freakin' full. Anybody care to disagree? Didn't really think so... I'll listen to reasonable arguments, but the veggies better stay buried on this one.

Good go, Seth! You beat me to it...

Only by a minute, LOL.

-Mitch h. "what happened to the days when they sent a battalion to evacuate folks?"

A single platoon of Marines is a deterrent, they will simply be escorts to get the 100's of card carrying American civillians out on busses or black hawkes, if any bullets fly at the civilians then the marines will also be hit....a US military man in a dangerous territory...under fire, thats when the planes show up with the invading armies worst nighmare. Dont think of this as its a movie with two sides making secret moves and trying to outguess what the other will do, past reality shows that the invading rebels are probably already talking to American Intelligence (whether they want to or not) and have been informed of the intention to remove "our interest" in the area. The reason for a few dozen marines suggest that we have already recieved word from the invading rebels that "you stay outa our way well stay outa yours, get yer civillians and have a nice day". This aint Tears of the Sun the movie, and it sure as hell aint mogadishu with warring warlords taking potshots at us already. This will probably be a very fast evac and the world will be whining for months on why didnt clean up the mess.

FYI - Charlie oughta be in Brussels before a war crimes tribunal, folks. 100s of thousands of Africans owe their demise to this man. ANYTHING is better than letting him and his 'thugs' (that's mild) continue to exist behind a facade of 'democracy'. It's a sham. I say, get us out, and let the rebels have their way. I hope they literally drag his ass through the streets, and let everyone have a go at this dolt. 'Til he's dead. Period. I'm a peace-loving individual, but there will be at least three other countries in Africa better off for the loss.

The "several dozen" likely refers to a FAST (Fleet Anti-terrorist and Security Team) platoon that will reinforce the embassy guards. The MEU (a battalion heavily reinforced) is already either steaming to the coast or already there.

When I was at MarForEur we called summer the NEO-season (Non-combatant Evacuation Operation) in Africa.

Wasn't Liberia founded by ex-American slaves?

I think the US should go in and remove Taylor. The UN should then follow ASAP, since Korea still needs attention.

OM:

That's why I commented on the lack of troops... of any place in Africa, Liberia is the closest to being our business. But as over-committed as we are, I can't imagine that we have the throw-weight to do the right thing, and intervene. If we didn't have troops sitting in at least five different hot spots? Yes, of course. But right now, the only immediate forces we have on hand are Marines, and long-term, we don't have the troops to handle rotations through what we've already committed to.

We need a peacekeeper corps (or, hell, "peacemaker corps" if that ain't manly enough for ya) of three-four light divisions built for peacemaking purposes. You know, with most of the artillery and some of the armor replaced with as many civil affair and MP battalions as can be raised.

As it currently stands, we either have heavy divisions committed to roles for which they really aren't suited, or National Guard units deployed. The armor, and infantry divisions ought to be in reserve and training, not deployed in Iraq and Bosnia.

I tend to agree with you Mitch. The U.S. is in the nation building business for the foreseeable future. There are just too many failed and failing states out there and when you combine them with WMDs being made in Iran, North Korea Syria ext it is a dangerous combination.

There is no way that the UN is up to it. It makes me laugh every time people say that the UN should send it troops. The UN HAS no troops. All it can do is ask other countries to put up troops. Then when they get in theater the UN puts such restrictive rules of engagement on they either get to watch what happens or they end up just trying to protect themselves.

I like your idea of a couple of light divisions but I would avoid calling them "peacekeepers" as that name is either discredited (if you are not a UN fan) or at least gives the idea of sweetness and light if you are a UN fan. Maybe call em the Infrastructure Development Corp or something like that.

They should be largely composed of MP's, supply and logistics guys, lawyers, and a ton of engineers. They should be robust enough to protect themselves but they are not a major combat unit. Put a small elite group of Heavy Mechanized infantry, special forces, and significant air support behind em for back up. (Kind of like a swat team)

Then keep the two separate in the minds of the people. Maybe even give em different uniforms. That way the Civilians on the ground see two different groups running the country. There are the guys in blue who are the cops and the engineers. They get the power up and the streets safe. Cooperate with them and you get power. Ignore them and nothing happens. Fight them and the Big green machine come in and hits you hard. And when the Heavies hit don't pussy foot around. Strike hard so they learn to leave the blue boys alone to do their job.

The IDC should have a lot of material support. They need a bit of Shock and Awe too. Not firepower but construction and problem solving skills. Power not working? Well it hasn't worked for 20 years. Raw sewage pumped in the river. Whets new, its been like that for 10 years. Then the IDC came in and dropped a few billion on the country in a month. We have a regular power, the sewage plant is half way build and there is a cop on every corner. (Not a tank, but if you screw with the cop there will be a dozen on your door)

Make em so efficient and fast that countries will think about attacking the US just for the boost to their infrastructure.

I tend to agree with you Mitch. The U.S. is in the nation building business for the foreseeable future. There are just too many failed and failing states out there and when you combine them with WMDs being made in Iran, North Korea Syria ext it is a dangerous combination.

There is no way that the UN is up to it. It makes me laugh every time people say that the UN should send it troops. The UN HAS no troops. All it can do is ask other countries to put up troops. Then when they get in theater the UN puts such restrictive rules of engagement on they either get to watch what happens or they end up just trying to protect themselves.

I like your idea of a couple of light divisions but I would avoid calling them "peacekeepers" as that name is either discredited (if you are not a UN fan) or at least gives the idea of sweetness and light if you are a UN fan. Maybe call em the Infrastructure Development Corp or something like that.

They should be largely composed of MP's, supply and logistics guys, lawyers, and a ton of engineers. They should be robust enough to protect themselves but they are not a major combat unit. Put a small elite group of Heavy Mechanized infantry, special forces, and significant air support behind em for back up. (Kind of like a swat team)

Then keep the two separate in the minds of the people. Maybe even give em different uniforms. That way the Civilians on the ground see two different groups running the country. There are the guys in blue who are the cops and the engineers. They get the power up and the streets safe. Cooperate with them and you get power. Ignore them and nothing happens. Fight them and the Big green machine come in and hits you hard. And when the Heavies hit don't pussy foot around. Strike hard so they learn to leave the blue boys alone to do their job.

The IDC should have a lot of material support. They need a bit of Shock and Awe too. Not firepower but construction and problem solving skills. Power not working? Well it hasn't worked for 20 years. Raw sewage pumped in the river. Whets new, its been like that for 10 years. Then the IDC came in and dropped a few billion on the country in a month. We have a regular power, the sewage plant is half way build and there is a cop on every corner. (Not a tank but if you screw with the cop there will be a dozen on your door)

Make em so efficient and fast that countries will think about attacking the US just for the boost to their infrastructure.

Argg, those double posts are a pain. sorry guys.

Only one problem with that little scenario - Charlie! I would hope the guy listens to GWB, but I ain't holdin' my breath...

It's amazing, isn't it.
You get these guys like Saddam Hussein and Charles Taylor. They HAVE TO know they're evil, that they're screwing their citizens and maybe those in neighboring countries. They also undoubtedly have more money salted away than some countries have in their treasuries.
So.... When it's time for them to go, these morons should go. It's not like they have any feelings of patriotism for their countries and people, right?
But they always feel they need to hang on to something they're about to lose and go down with the ship, instead of taking the hint and leaving to spend a life of luxury elsewhere.
I bet Taylor's going to be one of those, just like Saddam Hussein.

Several *dozen* Marines? Christ, what happened to the days when they sent a battalion to evacuate folks? Also, that article seems to suggest that the Marines are on standby for an evacuation mission, not an intervention.

Could somebody responsible start talking about an American peacekeeping corps? We seem to be short a couple light divisions...

Several dozen Marines is all it takes to kick his ass.

OOOOOOOOH RAAAAAAH!!!!