signals
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Government requires bids and Blackwater was more than likely the lowest bidder to do the job. Don't talk non-sense in my field of expertese.
How's that Arab Spring working out
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Government requires bids and Blackwater was more than likely the lowest bidder to do the job. Don't talk non-sense in my field of expertese.
xUT
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Gooberment didn't require bids at that time.
Halliburton was not a bid process as 'THE' Dick made too much ancillary revenue.
Blackwater was not a bid either.
IIRC
B) xUT
Indeed he is. As utterly revolting and downright stomache-churning as I find this..that clueless, spineless sob is the Commander in Chief, and our embassies anywhere are, legally speaking, sovereign land of the USA. You do the math.
Ms Tree
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Yes and no. I am sure no president goes over the military recommendations for staffing. No one has claimed that Reagan was fault for the staffing/defense at the barracks in Beirut. Bush went by the recommendations of his SecDef and JCS for troop levels. Bush had no military back ground and went with the recommendations.
While I agree that the POTUS has final responsibility for what happens during their term, saying that a POTUS should have done something different is a bit of a stretch in my opinion. If this argument is going to be used regarding staffing at an embassy then one would also have to apply that to Seal team 6 that killed Obama. Obama did not have a say in either case.
AA89
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"A bit of a stretch"? You are being too kind. The Beruit barracks bombing came to my mind as well. I guess the commander in chief reviews the security plan for all the embassies in the world? Get real. Maybe blame the State Dept but I would think that each ambassador would have to be comfortable with the security depending on local conditions and have some input at least.
Was that some subliminal slippage?
The last I heard; that pathetic jackazz was still in office.....
eolesen
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Actually, Hillary is responsible for embassy security. State decides if they use Marines or outsource it.
Guess what? They outsourced in a lot of Muslim countries to avoid the perception of having our soldiers within their borders (never mind the fact that an Embassy is sovereign soil).
AA89
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Hillary and the State Dept isn't Obama but of course there are those from both parties that will blame the President for everything from gas prices to embassy security. None of us know even if Hillary signs off on every security plan at every embassy but she is in a more likely position to do so than Obama. Agreed.
We make many accomodations to foreign governments both in the public and private sector when in their country. I never worked in Saudi but I know people who have and from what I understand alcohol and tobacco were prohibited even on Aramco property. At least the appearance has to be made that we respect their rules. So the question is I guess, how many marines would have been enough to prevent this. It wasn't enough in Iran 30 years ago.
We make many accomodations to foreign governments both in the public and private sector when in their country. I never worked in Saudi but I know people who have and from what I understand alcohol and tobacco were prohibited even on Aramco property. At least the appearance has to be made that we respect their rules. So the question is I guess, how many marines would have been enough to prevent this. It wasn't enough in Iran 30 years ago.
eolesen
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There are 150 embassies with Marines, and only 1000 in the Marine Security Guard MOS which cover that. This works out to an average of less than 7 Marines per facility.
There's nothing magic about that number of 1000 worldwide in the MSG MOS. In a potentially hostile or politically unstable place like North Africa, a platoon of Marines would go a long way.
But 7? Hardly enough to provide 12h shift coverage...
More importantly, how many Marines does it take? One with really good aim and a couple of spare clips.
If bodies start falling back on the crowd, the rest of them will think twice about following the guy who was dumb enough to go first.
And maybe they'll think twice before trying it in the next country.
There's nothing magic about that number of 1000 worldwide in the MSG MOS. In a potentially hostile or politically unstable place like North Africa, a platoon of Marines would go a long way.
But 7? Hardly enough to provide 12h shift coverage...
More importantly, how many Marines does it take? One with really good aim and a couple of spare clips.
If bodies start falling back on the crowd, the rest of them will think twice about following the guy who was dumb enough to go first.
And maybe they'll think twice before trying it in the next country.
AA89
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I agree that the embassies should be well protected and yes, shoot the first one that even climbs on top of the fence. We know these weren't protesters. They were a well organized and armed group that came to take the embassy and kill whoever was in it if they could. I'm sure part of any embassy security plan is based at least a little on help from the host country. It didn't come in this case.
Back on topic. There is a reason these countries are run by ruthless dictators.
Back on topic. There is a reason these countries are run by ruthless dictators.
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From wht I remember
Reagan did take responsiblity din't he?
Ms Tree
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I do not recall Reagan taking responsibility for anything. I know the words "I do not recall" came out of his mouth on a regular basis during the Contra trial.
Aside from that, we were talking about the troop deployments and defensive set up on the base. Regan did not set that up. The base commanders, generals ... etc were in charge of that.
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