Pentagon: some troops deployed to Africa “will have to handle infected blood samples”
Remember that Administration feelgood exercise military deployment to Africa to combat the Ebola outbreak? The one where the Administration first insisted that no troops would treat Ebola patients – even though uniformed USPHS Commissioned Corps personnel, who may be militarized by Presidential order, and who are also by law uniformed service personnel who qualify for VA benefits, PX/commissary privileges, and TRICARE, will be staffing one of the hospitals being built by US forces?
Well, other than that part about PHS Commissioned Corps, I guess that’s technically true. But as is often the case with this DC clown krewe Administration, it’s not the full story. Here, that initial statement was misleading as hell – IMO by design.
It turns out that a number of uniformed military personnel deployed to West Africa will in fact be handling blood samples taken from Ebola patients in mobile testing labs. A Pentagon spokesman, RADM John Kirby, has acknowledged that the risk involved is high, “if not more risk” than direct contact with Ebola patients.
DoD has already set up 3 such mobile testing labs in West Africa. Four more have been requested.
Of course, GEN David Rodriguez, US AFRICOM Commander, recently stated that containing the spread of Ebola “is a national security priority for President Obama”. Presumably, that’s why we’re deploying forces to his AO.
That statement is . . . interesting.
I say that, because we currently haven’t imposed any quarantine requirements for people entering this country who’ve been in the area of the outbreak within Ebola’s known incubation period – and who may be asymptomatic carriers for up to 21 days after exposure. And we still haven’t imposed a ban on nonessential travel to the area by US citizens and legal residents.
What’s it going to take for us to do that – someone bringing the virus here before they show symptoms? Oh, wait: that’s already happened in Dallas. I guess it will take substantially more than that to convince us to take this sh!t seriously.
So pardon me for not exactly taking that “national security priority” statement at face value. If containing Ebola were truly a “priority”, we’d be imposing substantially stricter entry controls on travelers from the outbreak region than we do today.
Category: "The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves", Military issues
and the Lies continue… how shocking.
Well, isn’t that just special?
What were you expecting? That He Who Speaketh with Forked Tongue would keep his word?
And don’t you just wonder how many attacks on US milpers will occur while they are over there, because someone will start/spread the rumor/lie that they are responsible for the ebola epidemic in the first place?
Ex-PH2…Thank you. I have written about that issue before. What are the ROE for our troops if they are attacked? Will they be allowed to use deadly force to protect themselves from the infected? Also, they have NO BUSINESS dealing with blood sampling in labs. Just not their calling. I thought they were there to build facilities and if need be protect “qualified” medical personnel from the CDC and WHO who SHOULD be there to collect blood samples and swabs and do the lab work. This is yet again, an outright lie from Obama which will put those troops at a too great risk. It is ass backwards logic once again and yet again, proof positive how little, if any care and regard Obama has for military lives. Shameful, absolutely shameful.
Suppose you have a plan but you know that you will be crucified if you propose it. Ah but there is a solution. Propose a plan that many will support then just do what you wanted to do in the first place. Whether they read the proposal or not, most people won’t notice that you changed it. The people who do notice the change are likely to be neutral (and read the paper) or your political opponents. They can be dismissed as troublemakers so you get what you want and all you have to do is cook up the original story and then later send out Earnest to talk a little.
Of course, this will work until ISIS pops up and makes it obvious that you withdrew the troops too soon … oh shit, I just changed the subject, sorry … until your population starts dropping like flies from Ebola.
One wonders, will the country ever wake up and notice how screwed we are and how it was done?
Just to point out the obvious as well. These medical based personnel will have to be guarded by MP’s or detailed soldiers. Once the word gets out that there is a “Safe place” watch for the perimeter to be encroached by all manner of the sick in an attempt to get medical care.
Maybe I am being cynical, but I think we can extrapolate the possible outcomes.
Texas, Hawaii, D.C., and Utah. That’s 4. And, according to a phone interview, nobody has contacted the daughter of the Texas patient… the one who cleaned up his vomit. She’s scared, calling every day, and self-quarantining.
But, at least Jesse Jackson is going to the neighborhood where there are more possible Ebola infections to make sure the people’s civil rights aren’t violated.
I will apologize for this, but I have no better way to put it; GOD DAMN IT!
What the fuck is it with those clowns in Washington? Why are those of us who are in or have been in uniform seen as being so automatically expendable in such useless and senseless ways?
Nuclear weapons testing in the 50s. Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam. Contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. God knows what else. And now they want our boys and girls to be playing with ebola contaminated BLOOD! One of the best mediums for transmitting that disease!
Here’s a fucking idea for those assholes; how about if THEY go over there and handle it THEMSELVES? How about if We the People DEMAND they do it? You think they’d go for that? FUCK!!!
The world is spinning too fast for the Golfer in Mom Jeans. The Ebola patient in Texas is dead and there is no plan to stop West Africans from entering our country. ISIS is running roughshod, raping, beheading, bombing, and burning. The ME is a mess and the internationalist has no answer. He speaks in lies and platitudes. He is confused and delusional. His Veep is a moron. His health insurance plan was a mountain of lies. Congress has no collective spine and five of nine members of the Supreme Court have nothing to say when a handful of federal judges thumb their noses at millions of voters who said NO to same-sex marriage. We have no border security south and the Golfer has abandoned his constitutional duties in that and other matters. The tyrant says he has a pen and a phone, a line worthy of Mussolini. And if the words, “God Bless America” were not on his teleprompter, he would never speak them. He recently insisted that he actually likes capitalism! He trades terrorist honchos for a traitor, bypassing Congress in doing so. He refuses to enforce laws he doesn’t like or which he unilaterally declares to be unconstitutional. And we are prime for a terrorist hit of some magnitude. In short, we are screwed. Glad I can help cheer you up.
As difficult as it will be, there is one thing we can look forward to from all this. When it all tips over, the perfumed princes will run for the hills, and in the vacuum will come our natural leaders — you know, the ones who do truly serve others, the ones who are combat experienced and have quietly gone on with their lives, the ones the perfumed princes fear and beat down every chance they get. THEY will step up to the plate, the way they always seem to do in a crisis. And then, things will change. It won’t be easy; in fact, I expect it to get damn ugly before it gets better. But I do think we will see it get better. Hang in there, and keep your powder dry (or in my case, my bowstring waxed.)