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| Marines head to Haiti!!! |
| 2004-02-23 |
| EFL Fifty U.S. Marines are being deployed to Haiti on Monday, NBC News has learned, as rebels said they will soon attack the capital after over-running Haiti’s second-largest city on Sunday. The takeover was the biggest victory of a bloody uprising to oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski, reporting from the Pentagon, said the U.S. ambassador in Haiti had requested the Marines. U.S. officials said the 50-man team, trained in counterterrorism, will join a dozen Marines already in Haiti to provide additional security for the embassy. Pentagon and military officials are still reviewing plans for a possible emergency airlift of some 300 U.S. government staff from Haiti if necessary, but as of Monday morning there had been no decision to issue an evacuation order, Miklaszewski said. |
| Posted by:Dragon Fly |
| #10 I would think that the 22nd MEU will soon be sighted off the coast of Lebanon. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-2-23 9:16:43 PM |
| #9 In the old days the Marines could take over small countries liek Haiti with a handful of people because they were disciplined and the rebels were not Yep. Haiti was run for a few years after the second intervention by a group of retired gunny's. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-23 4:44:04 PM |
| #8 Yah know... the 22nd MEU set sail for points East on February 19. Link Kinda like Grenada??? |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-2-23 3:39:06 PM |
| #7 In general I would say you are correct Old Patriot, but I think you underestimate the how far reputation can take them. In the old days the Marines could take over small countries liek Haiti with a handful of people because they were disciplined and the rebels were not. They built up a reputation so that most aggressors faded into the jungles rather than fight. I have to believe the reputation has increased after Afghanistan/Iraq. Its like the Naval reputation the British had where larger German and Italian ships often fled battles they should have been able to win. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-2-23 1:55:31 PM |
| #6 Fifty marines are just enough to make sure the rebels don't try to take the US Embassy, but not enough to act as a force to stop the rebels, or give Jean Baptiste any ridiculous ideas. Kind of a neat balancing act - "we protect our own, but you're on YOUR own". |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-23 12:23:02 PM |
| #5 I wonder if anbody's playing Johnny Cash? "I fell down in a burnin' ring of fire..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-2-23 11:53:38 AM |
| #4 One would suspect that the evacuation order is on, but why advertise it until the last second and encourage hostage taking? |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2004-2-23 11:03:18 AM |
| #3 Those 50 Marines, with enough supplies, could probably take Haiti. But then again who would want Haiti. Let the French have it back. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-2-23 10:57:41 AM |
| #2 Adapt, improvise, overcome! Aye, aye, Gunny Highway! |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-2-23 9:40:40 AM |
| #1 What good could these staffers possibly do during the total chaos that is unfolding? I can't imagine that there is any valuable intelligence to be had on the rabble. I would hope we aren't processing any Visa's. I'm sure that anything they are doing could be accomplished safely from the Dominical Republic. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-2-23 9:32:18 AM |