Military help to Sri Lanka. Is this a good idea?

[Jack_USN]

San Diego Union Tribune reports that Lincoln CBG and ESG5 (Exped. Strike

Group) are on the way to Sri Lanka.

 

In addition to putting the over 4000 MARINES and a large contingent of SAILORS

on the ground to assist in whatever way they can (building tent cities, recovery

ops, helicopter and small craft assets, medical personnel). U.S. Navy ships

make their own water using reverse osmosis. We can actually produce alot

of fresh water in addition to what the ship needs. This could be invaluable to

those people in need.

 

I am a compassionate person, and I believe that this is a huge tragedy and

those people need help. But...

 

1. It is going to cost a ton of $$$. Man we are going broke. We have so many

irons in the fire as far as our tax dollars go, we are now cutting our defense

budget in the middle of a war, not to mention the domestic needs of our own

countrymen (which have been neglected due to the war effort).

 

2. Those 4000 + MARINES were headed for IRAQ. Does that mean that

there are going to be SOLDIERS and MARINES in Iraq that are going to

be extended AGAIN! because their reliefs are on an aid mission. It may sound horrible, but I for one would rather get a young man or woman home who just possibly fought in Faluja and served a 1 year combat tour than provide relief aid to some folks who really don't like us anyways.

 

I guess when I boil it down for myself it comes down to helping other nations

versus taking care of our own troopers. In my book OUR troops should come

first.

 

Am a screwed up for thinking like this?

[blzrul]

I know they have precious gems, got any oil? Indonesia sure does. All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers. And of course which corporations are going to get those contracts to rebuild?

[_BiB_]

As I alluded to earlier, some of this is probably being done based on pre-existing security cooperation agreements, whether done through DoD or through State. The money sorts itself out later. I would suspect PACOM is VERY heavily engaged. What is the impact of backing out of an agreement, over the long term? DoD support to Consequence Management efforts does not entail long term solutions, in terms of policy. Even for a disaster within the United States, DoD support is meant to fill holes and some niched, specialized efforts until the proper resources can be brought from elsewhere.

 

And Deb, can always count on you, can't I? (Shakes head)

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

I know they have precious gems, got any oil?  Indonesia sure does.  All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers.  And of course which corporations are going to get those contracts to rebuild?

185192[/snapback]

 

And just like old faithful, Debbie spouts off with the usual tinfoil hat stuff.

 

bravissimo!

[RkFast]

I know they have precious gems, got any oil?  Indonesia sure does.  All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers.  And of course which corporations are going to get those contracts to rebuild?

185192[/snapback]

 

In the "stingy" thread, she implies that the US can and should do more.

 

Here, she implies that US efforts have ulterior motives.

 

New Year, same trolling bull sh--.

 

And Deb....how would you feel if Saddam circa 1990 controlled half the world's oil reserves? Or if bin Laden controlled a large part of the diamond trade and had access to the revenues it generates? Just checking.

[SilverNRed]

I know they have precious gems, got any oil?  Indonesia sure does.  All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers.  And of course which corporations are going to get those contracts to rebuild?

185192[/snapback]

 

A late entry for worst post of 2004. If you could've somehow implied that the U.S. was responsible for the tsunami, we'd have a sure-fire winner.

[sweet baboo]

I know they have precious gems, got any oil?  Indonesia sure does.  All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers.  And of course which corporations are going to get those contracts to rebuild?

185192[/snapback]

 

how do you sleep at night with your head full of so many conspiracies?

[Guest RabidBillsFanVT]

Jack, you know as well as I that your sentiments are wishful thinking. Obviously the DOD thinks that we can do anything all over the world at the same time, accepting stop-loss, and having NO PLAN if something else breaks out... and if they do, it will break our morale if it hasn't already. Everybody wants to talk about sacrifice, but yet nobody talks about honor. There is honor in aiding Sri Lanka, but there is no honor in forcing good soldiers to extend involuntarily, as I have said before. As far as taking care of us, only words apply to the bureaucrats who run things... things these days are done without proper planning, a head-bobbing mentality that offers no creative solutions to real problems.

 

This is military life nowadays.. and it doesn't seem to be getting any better; it used to be enlist, serve your time, get out... go out, fight, do what you have to do, have fun, come home or die with honor.

 

Now all we get is force people who don't want to re-enlist to stay in, not giving the guys enough tools to protect themselves, C.Y.A., UCMJ our personal lives to death, and to MAKE UP STORIES of those who die to cover up how things happened, and mislead the public grossly.

 

My father was right.. the government is treating us more and more like shiite, and they don't admit when they are wrong EVER anymore... It is very disconcerting.

[DC Tom]

I know they have precious gems, got any oil?  Indonesia sure does.  All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers.  And of course which corporations are going to get those contracts to rebuild?

185192[/snapback]

 

You've got to be kidding. The US is doing too much, and is doing not enough? Where do you get this crap?

 

Do you even understand that this is a disaster of unprecedented proportions, calling for a level of resource management that only exists in the military? You think the ICRC or OxFam or Doctors Without Borders can manage this sort of thing?

[Alaska Darin]

Jack, you know as well as I that your sentiments are wishful thinking. Obviously the DOD thinks that we can do anything all over the world at the same time, accepting stop-loss, and having NO PLAN if something else breaks out... and if they do, it will break our morale if it hasn't already. Everybody wants to talk about sacrifice, but yet nobody talks about honor. There is honor in aiding Sri Lanka, but there is no honor in forcing good soldiers to extend involuntarily, as I have said before. As far as taking care of us, only words apply to the bureaucrats who run things... things these days are done without proper planning, a head-bobbing mentality that offers no creative solutions to real problems.

 

This is military life nowadays.. and it doesn't seem to be getting any better; it used to be enlist, serve your time, get out... go out, fight, do what you have to do, have fun, come home or die with honor.

 

Now all we get is force people who don't want to re-enlist to stay in, not giving the guys enough tools to protect themselves, C.Y.A., UCMJ our personal lives to death, and to MAKE UP STORIES of those who die to cover up how things happened, and mislead the public grossly.

 

My father was right.. the government is treating us more and more like shiite, and they don't admit when they are wrong EVER anymore... It is very disconcerting.

185394[/snapback]

You're quite wrong about DoD. They don't think they can do everything all over the world but don't have any say in the matter when our civilian "leaders" tell them to do it. They've also got some of the best and brightest in crisis management in the world.

 

As for your "good ol' days" scenario, that's also pretty wishful thinking. The difference being in past wars there were drafts to add troops to the front lines and when there wasn't proper equipment they simply sent more men at the problem because they were available AND expendable.

 

Where there's big money, there's big corruption. The solution is to give them alot less money and divest them of ALOT of their current responsibility. Not likely, given the current climate.

[blzrul]

In the "stingy" thread, she implies that the US can and should do more.

 

Here, she implies that US efforts have ulterior motives.

 

New Year, same trolling bull sh--.

 

And Deb....how would you feel if Saddam circa 1990 controlled half the world's oil reserves? Or if bin Laden controlled a large part of the diamond trade and had access to the revenues it generates? Just checking.

185337[/snapback]

I wouldn't give a rat's ass if Saddam - or some nutcase like him - controlled the world's oil. In fact the world might be better off because then we'd have been forced to find alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles. But that didn't happen because we defended our oil I mean our friends in Kuwait.

 

The terrorists don't have diamonds but for a long time they controlled quite a bit of the world's tanzanite (which is only mined in Tanzania), which if you price it ain't cheap. In fact I am proud to have been the one to call this to the attention of two major (I mean MAJOR) jewelry outlets and was gratified to receive a call from the President of the company thanking me, and of seeing them BOTH discontinue their sales of this gemstone until they could verify that their sources was NOT one of those feeding the revenues directly to Al Qaeda.

 

And what have YOU done for the world's well-being today? Refrained from scratching you butt in public, or perhaps merely belching once after your fifteenth beer?

[erynthered]

The Company I work for will match Dollar for Dollar over a 50 dollar contribution.

We suck us Americans, Dont we?

[BuffaloBorn1960]

The Company I work for will match Dollar for Dollar over a 50 dollar contribution.

We suck us Americans, Dont we?

186055[/snapback]

Yeah.... just saw that Big Bad OIL EXXONMOBIL is contributing $5 Million...

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story...EBBAD331ABAC%7D

[RkFast]

I wouldn't give a rat's ass if Saddam - or some nutcase like him - controlled the world's oil.  In fact the world might be better off because then we'd have been forced to find alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles.  But that didn't happen because we defended our oil I mean our friends in Kuwait.

 

The terrorists don't have diamonds but for a long time they controlled quite a bit of the world's tanzanite (which is only mined in Tanzania), which if you price it ain't cheap.  In fact I am proud to have been the one to call this to the attention of two major (I mean MAJOR) jewelry outlets and was gratified to receive a call from the President of the company thanking me, and of seeing them BOTH discontinue their sales of this gemstone until they could verify that their sources was NOT one of those feeding the revenues directly to Al Qaeda.

 

And what have YOU done for the world's well-being today?  Refrained from scratching you butt in public, or perhaps merely belching once after your fifteenth beer?

186022[/snapback]

 

Only a person like yourself could say with a straight face that you wouldnt care if a madman was able to hold entire world ransom and then imply that you care for the its "well-being". I truly pity you and your family. I really do.

[Alaska Darin]

I wouldn't give a rat's ass if Saddam - or some nutcase like him - controlled the world's oil.  In fact the world might be better off because then we'd have been forced to find alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles.  But that didn't happen because we defended our oil I mean our friends in Kuwait.

 

The terrorists don't have diamonds but for a long time they controlled quite a bit of the world's tanzanite (which is only mined in Tanzania), which if you price it ain't cheap.  In fact I am proud to have been the one to call this to the attention of two major (I mean MAJOR) jewelry outlets and was gratified to receive a call from the President of the company thanking me, and of seeing them BOTH discontinue their sales of this gemstone until they could verify that their sources was NOT one of those feeding the revenues directly to Al Qaeda.

 

And what have YOU done for the world's well-being today?  Refrained from scratching you butt in public, or perhaps merely belching once after your fifteenth beer?

186022[/snapback]

Yep, nothing like comparing precious gems to the lifeblood of the GLOBAL economy. VERY valid.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Look, do I see AD accepting military aid in one of these photos?

 

AK

 

[Guest RabidBillsFanVT]

What I want to know is:

 

What happens when the democratically elected government of Iraq falls apart, is taken over by radicals, and moves into alliance with Iran? Obviously the observers of this sad story see this as a distinct possibility. We have undermined our whole entire mission and integrity to topple Saddam not only for concocted reasons based on faulty intelligence, but to put a WORSE government in its place?

 

I want to hear what you have to say when the Radical Islamists who toppled the Shah in 79' take over in Iraq... then what happens? 10 more years of constant deployment to the region? World War III in the Middle East?

 

Instability has caused MANY revolutions... Russia, Cuba, Iran, Germany. Pretty soon, Iraq will be there as well, and all because we went there without ANY sense of what would happen. ANYONE can take our army and roll over Saddam and his army... only specific, sound conditions make the government left in its wake last.

 

I fear for the future of their country and ours...

[KD in CA]

I know they have precious gems, got any oil?  Indonesia sure does.  All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers.  And of course which corporations are going to get those contracts to rebuild?

185192[/snapback]

 

Wow...you really are a low life. How pathetic.

[Losman-McGahee-Evans]

I am a compassionate person, and I believe that this is a huge tragedy and

those people need help. But...

185179[/snapback]

Read the bible much? As a Republican who actually believes the teachings of the bible (Not just uses it as a political tool) we must help this nation, period. We are the lone super power left and this is the role we must play like it or not. If we were not bogged down in Iraq and suffering under these massive deficits and a stagnant economy this wouldn't be that much of a burden.

 

Even so we must help as much as we possibly can.

[Losman-McGahee-Evans]

What I want to know is:

 

What happens when the democratically elected government of Iraq falls apart, is taken over by radicals, and moves into alliance with Iran? Obviously the observers of this sad story see this as a distinct possibility. We have undermined our whole entire mission and integrity to topple Saddam not only for concocted reasons based on faulty intelligence, but to put a WORSE government in its place?

 

I want to hear what you have to say when the Radical Islamists who toppled the Shah in 79' take over in Iraq... then what happens? 10 more years of constant deployment to the region? World War III in the Middle East?

 

Instability has caused MANY revolutions... Russia, Cuba, Iran, Germany. Pretty soon, Iraq will be there as well, and all because we went there without ANY sense of what would happen. ANYONE can take our army and roll over Saddam and his army... only specific, sound conditions make the government left in its wake last.

 

I fear for the future of their country and ours...

188890[/snapback]

When we leave Iraq we will have installed a religious theocracy and created a much more powerful enemy than Saddam ever was to us. We will have created an even angrier version of Iran because we never killed over 100,000 Iranian civilians.

 

And we will have killed hundreds if not thousands of Americans to create an enemy.