US to station 13k troops in Kuwait
So it’s back to the nineties when we had 5000 troops stationed in Kuwait to be a speed bump in the event that Saddam Hussein tried to to retake Kadhima, his 19th province, because we didn’t have the guts to remove him in 1991. The Associated Press reports that this Administration plans to station almost three times the size of that force there to react to military emergencies in the Gulf region based on a John Kerry-inspired study.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., who asked his staff to conduct the study, said in a statement: “This is a period of historic, but turbulent change in the Middle East. We need to be clear-eyed about what these interests are and how best to promote them. This report provides a thoughtful set of recommendations designed to do exactly that.”
I’m not sure it’s particularly smart to put US troops in a region that is as unstable as the Gulf States have been without a clear mission, except to train. The report specifically mentions our interests in the outcome of the Arab Spring uprisings. Do we plan to be able to inject “boots on the ground” to prop up the Gulf monarchies or will they be employed on behalf of the rebels?
The Left is fond of preaching about how our presence in the region creates terrorists – bin Laden’s big complaint was the presence of US forces in Saudi Arabia. I don’t particularly subscribe to that theory, mostly because the Left are basically idiots with big mouths and buy in to easy memes. But, how could the Obama Administration explain this particular decision to his base?
And, it might not create terrorists, but it will create targets for terrorists. Khobar Towers and the Marine barracks in Beirut make appropriate examples. Democrats are always willing to make speed bumps out the troops, but they’re never willing to let them fight wars to a successful and victorious conclusion.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues, Terror War
To be fair–if Saudi Arabia goes ass-up, it might be useful to have troops nearby to seize the oil fields while the Saudi troops are busy machine gunning their own people.
Obama got us out of Iraq (pulling troops out) and then put us in Kuwait. Also, SF in Iraq aren’t counted because they are not counted as combat troops by the administration (Special Ops)… hell of a shell game with the military by this military.
If we just have to give the terrorists over there something to practice on, I would think paper targets would be cheaper.
@ 2 & 3, I agree
Brand new idea, keep the Troops “locked and loaded”. Simple declaration Shoot at our troops and die
Better them than me. Spending a year somewhere like Buehring(shudder)? No thanks. Even AJ is pretty bad compared to a lot of the bases in Iraq.
Last year as we were leaving we had an engineer battalion from Tennessee show up and I knew some of them from when I was deployed with their higher. They weren’t getting combat pay for Kuwait (thought they were still getting tax free pay). Hey, no combat pay is fair enough, but lift the off post travel restrictions. Either it’s safe or it isn’t.
And this comes just as the new Crown Prince of the Saudi family is installed, and he’s 76, the King is in his 80s, Israel is deporting illegal immigrants — some of them refugees from Sudan — AND the Egyptians have voted in a new government while Mubarak slips into a clinically dead coma.
Did I miss anything?
Coincidence? I think not. (Walks away, shaking her head.) This is why mothers get gray.
When we stopped in Kuwait to “train” (we did little of anything useful) for OIF 3, it sucked. Most of us begged them to hurry thefuckup and send us into Iraq. Most of Kuwait is hot suckass desert.
Nos. 1, 5 MAKE SENSE.
(Thus ruled OUT, out of hand — by Dear Leaders).
The purpose of this is to accomplish 3 very important tasks:
1. Keep 13,000 US troops (13K combat not including support, or 1 battalion, and the rest support?) out of CONUS where they could be effective putting down Obama’s New Model Army.
2. Keep DoD focused hard and heavy on maintaining the killing pace of the OPTEMPO (see also 9 month cruise for CSG)
3. Force DoD to spend money on the deployment, and not on major things such as quality of life, training, replacement parts/people/supplies to come up to a level to face the PLA in the Pacific, or the Russians in eastern Europe, or at home in the US of A.
F*ck me to tears: this may be the Army’s doing – a chance to stay relevant and steal a mission from the USMC MEU and Navy ESG.
We are outmanned & outgunned at our own southern border. We are being literally overrun. Mexico is probably easlily top 3
most dangerous countries in world. Violence spills over the border & drug smuggling goes on around the clock. American citizens have to defend themselves and property from home invasions & poaching. Cartels run the country & Gov’t corruption is off the charts (breeding ground for terrorists?). Our elected leaders are paralyzed and can’t agree on appropriate action (secure border but don’t offend latino voting block). We need to defend the home front. The American Empire is deep in debt 16 trillion almost, how much longer can we be the world’s de facto police force? We have invasion USA going on right under our noses. Day of reckoning
only few short years away.
number one complaint from folks in the middle east = foreign troops on muslim soil. not a theory. fact.