Marines leaving Iraq!!!!!

Thank you for continuing to prove your dishonesty.

Ditto.

__________________
"
It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win."
John Paul Jones

"My Country, May She always be right, but My Country, right or wrong."
Steven Decatur

That'll kick up the unemployment rolls a bit !

The Army was playing backgammon the whole time.

They weren't patrolling, taking a bulk of the casualties, and involuntarily mobilizing reservists because they were short handed or anything like that.

The Marines had an extended presence in Korea and Viet Nam too. They have had an extended presence in Afghanistan. They are an expeditionary force first, but they are always prepared to stay longer.

__________________
"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

I agree with that. We've sowed the seeds for future radicalism out of Iraq.

It was a poor policy move from the onset. That doesn't make it the fault of the soldiers and marines, of course.

__________________
"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

I haven't been dishonest about anything. You, otoh, resort to childish games every time you can't address an issue. So tell us oh great supporter of our troops, what do you say to those who have returned and are against the occupation? What do you say to those who have lost their arms, legs, ears, eyes, and other parts? Do you also accuse them of lying? Do you call them code pink? No. We all know the answer. You don't say a fucking word.

I don't argue that the Marines were also mis-deployed to Korea, or Vietnam (although, at least these theatres had coastlines to make their "extended presence justifiable). Nor should they not be prepared to stay "longer"....BUT 7 fucking YEARS longer???

My questions are:

Why are the Marines doing the Army's job?

Are the Marines Equipped to do the Army's Job?

If the Marine Corps is going to do the Army's job, then why seperate the services?

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The Marines are NOT doing the Army's job. They are following the orders of the CinC.
Yes. The Marines are equipped with the tools and weapons to complete their mission.
The Marine Corps is acting on orders from the Commander in Chief....just as the Army does. Neither Service does the other's job. They both have specific mission parameters as related to Iraq.

__________________
"
It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win."
John Paul Jones

"My Country, May She always be right, but My Country, right or wrong."
Steven Decatur

No the soldiers are not to blame but the higher ranks, at least some of them, are to blame for following illegal orders. I've seen some admit they failed to keep their Oath by allowing the occupation to continue. For the past 7 years the pro war crowd has eternally tried to make our Soldiers=Policy and it is for one clear purpose: to accuse war critics of hating our Troops. It's a childish propaganda tool and in many ways it worked and it is still working in some circles.

I guarantee most war supporters either do not know we established a Theocracy or what it means for the region. When Britain tried this a hundred years ago they utterly failed. Some of their Generals told Iraqis they were there to "Liberate" them. Sound familiar? I'm also guessing most don't know it was the West that created Iraq and Kuwait.

Look amigo, infantry is infantry, and when you need infantry badly the branch of service doesn't really matter. All of this might make some sense if the Army AND Marines weren't maxed out and having to recall people as it is. I doubt the Marine Corps would be happy sitting at home while the Army was doing the fighting. It's not really the National Guard's job to fight outside of the nation's borders, but they got sent too.

So to answer your question:

1.) The Marines aren't doing the Army's job. They are pulling part of the DOD's total load.

2.) No. The Marines are perpetually under-equipped. That's not the Army's fault. It's the Navy. If you want to bemoan injustices meted out to the Marine Corps, bemoan the fact that they only get $.03 of every Navy dollar and end up doing 90% of the work. The Army has absolutely nothing to do with the Marine's logistical needs.

3.) Historical reasons. The Marines would be better funded and have access to more training opportunities if they were put under the Department of the Army. That's never going to happen simply for tradition.

I don't see any plausible alternative that you are offering. What would you have the Army do? Permanently deploy every unit for seven years so that we don't screw up some mandate from 1947?

Guess what? The President is Commander In Chief and pretty much has a trump card when it comes to dispersal of his forces.

I am glad we had the 3rd Marines to our north in Afghanistan.

A.) Their Helo pilots have big ones and will fly support in any weather.
B.) My Battalion's AO was the size of Vermont (literally). I suppose we could have tried to cover twice that area while the 3rd Marines sat in K-bay, but it wouldn't have ended up well.

__________________
"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Iraq has 58 kilometers of coastline.

__________________
"
It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win."
John Paul Jones

"My Country, May She always be right, but My Country, right or wrong."
Steven Decatur

I don't disagree. When the best end state for Iraq is a pseudo-democracy like Saudi Arabia, then the outlook is pretty bleak.

I am glad we are getting out of there.

__________________
"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

You certainly to post anything worth bragging about. Nothing new, original nor even noteworthy about your rhetoric, parrot.

Never said I do post anything to brag about so what is your point?