You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Arabia
U.S. Marines handed over their guns before leaving Yemen
2015-02-12
WASHINGTON (Rooters) - U.S. Marines handed over their remaining weapons to Yemenis at the airport in the capital, Sanaa, on Wednesday before boarding commercial aircraft to leave the country following the closure of the U.S. embassy, the Pentagon said.
Epic fail and betrayal of United States Marines.
Posted by:Besoeker

#17   Isn't that called prevent defense in football?

Yes, and it works only if you're winning.

Or - only if you're trying to lose by enough to not anger your fans yet guarantee you a first-round draft pick the following year...
Posted by: Pappy   2015-02-12 20:24  

#16  How about umbrellas? Did they get to keep their umbrellas?

Strategic patience. Isn't that called prevent defense in football?
Posted by: swksvolFF   2015-02-12 20:05  

#15  As I said elsewhere:

#2 In a different world the US Navy amphib TF would. Lose to the harbor, and the last embassy staff, the colors and the Marines, armed and ready, would convoy all the embassy vehicles to the port and load them on landing craft. Overhead air cover and reinforcement as needed would be visible. If the vehicles pose an unnecessary space problem, deep six them. Leaving with your tail between your legs is not what a confident nation does. But then, this is what passes for leadership from the fools who cloak doing nothing under the rubric of "strategic patience".
Posted by NoMoreBS 2015-02-12 13:12|| 2015-02-12
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2015-02-12 19:35  

#14  Based on a tale told by a Marine in our family, upon leaving Iraq (commercial airliner) in 2006, they did keep their rifles with them onboard. They had to stow their K-Bars (knives) in their gear, though.

Odd world.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2015-02-12 14:20  

#13  “None of them were ‘handed over’ in any way to anyone. The destruction of weapons at the embassy and the airport was carried out in accordance with an approved destruction plan.

“Upon arrival at the airfield, all personal weapons were rendered inoperable in accordance with advance planning,” the statement continued.

“Specifically, each bolt was removed from its weapons body and rendered inoperable by smashing with sledgehammers. The weapons bodies, minus the bolts, were then separately smashed with sledgehammers.

“All of these destroyed components were left at the airport – and components were scattered; no usable weapon was taken from any Marine at Sana’a airport. To be clear: No Marine handed a weapon to a Houthi, or had one taken from him.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/marine-corps-no-marine-handed-weapon-houthi-or-had-one-taken-him
Posted by: Mugsy Glink   2015-02-12 14:04  

#12  Despicable cowardice and not by the Marines. Shameful that the State Department is this craven.
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2015-02-12 13:33  

#11  The O admin is beyond appeasement. They are beyond surrender. O wants to humiliate this great country at every chance he gets. This is a conscious effort to rub our noses in his hate for this country. DC has become a nest of evil like Fallujah.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2015-02-12 10:17  

#10  What airline, and who paid for the tickets. Who made this gem of a decision to remove Embassy USMC guards in this manner?
Posted by: Mugsy Glink   2015-02-12 08:23  

#9  Ditto Woodrow. Purge DC and start over.
Posted by: AlanC   2015-02-12 08:13  

#8  Just knowing the few Marines that I do, I can suspect that they would have aggressively opposed this. To give them up would have to be a very direct order from someone very high up. Their rifles and side-arms are a part of their body.

Hell, they sleep with their rifles and pistols (loaded) when they're on active duty in the 'Fleet'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2015-02-12 08:04  

#7  And will they have to pay for their weapons?
Posted by: Glenmore   2015-02-12 07:40  

#6  Did the Marines have to pay for their own flights?
Posted by: airandee   2015-02-12 06:51  

#5  Somehow, I just cannot believe that 'commercial air' was an element of our standing Non-Combatant Evacuation (NEO) plan at that stage of the closure. Someone took a very, very big gamble with the lives and welfare of our servicemen.
Posted by: Besoeker   2015-02-12 05:47  

#4  Why Lord do we continue to go down the same trails, time after time ?

Because we basically have the same type of State Dept. jackasses calling the shots, time after time. Purge State, hell, purge D.C. and start over.
Posted by: Woodrow Stalin1308   2015-02-12 05:22  

#3  All I can think of was November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981 and the Embassy Hostage situation in Tehran, Iran. Why Lord do we continue to go down the same trails, time after time ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2015-02-12 01:36  

#2  Better than the last evac.
So kudos on not getting anyone killed.

blegh
Posted by: newc   2015-02-12 01:15  

#1  You can bet that some jackass popinjay idiot diplomat was in charge of this. Commercial Air? With an ARG, helicopters and other air assets nearby?

What incredible turds the diplomatic service are.
Posted by: OldSpook   2015-02-12 00:26  

00:00