State dept. : Within 5 years they were going to put Marines in Libya

[tinydancer]

Those %$(*&@+&% trucking @#)*&%^ at the State Department.

I hope some people's heads roll over this. We're not talking putting a new embassy in Belgium for crying out loud. Libya is still a war zone.

Prior to the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the State Department and the Marines Corps had been discussing deploying Marines to guard the U.S. Embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli "sometime in the next five years," according to the Marine Corps.

The issue of security at U.S. diplomatic outposts in Libya has been front and center as Congress and others begin to investigate whether or not those facilities were sufficiently protected before the attacks that killed Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The State Department won't discuss the specifics of its security posture in Libya before the attack, but the Marine Corps has briefed congressional staffers on the issue, for example in a Sept. 13 email obtained by The Cable.

"Typically, when a new embassy is established, it takes time to grow a new [Marine Corps Embassy Security Group] detachment," wrote Col. Harold Van Opdorp, director of the Marine Senate Liaison office, in the e-mail. "[In conjunction with] the State Department, there is discussion about establishing a detachment in Tripoli sometime in the next five years."

State Department was discussing putting Marines in Libya 'sometime in the next five years

 

[Vast LWC]

How many Marines would you have proposed putting there?

Wouldn't putting ground troops in Libya, at all, specifically be in violation of the War Powers Act?
Since Congress specifically forbid further involvement in the Libyan conflict?

 

[Vast LWC]

How would you have proposed Obama have put those marines there, when he was specifically forbidden from doing so?

 

[tinydancer]

How would you have proposed Obama have put those marines there, when he was specifically forbidden from doing so?

What are you talking about? I'm a Canuck and I know that Marines are stationed world wide to protect your embassies and consulates.

A Marine Security Guard or Marine Embassy Guard is a member of the the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group,[3] (formerly Marine Security Guard Battalion), a battalion-sized organization of U.S. Marines whose detachments provide security at American Embassies, American Consulates and other official United States Government offices such as the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, or the United States Mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium.

History

The Marine Corps has a long history of cooperation with the Department of State, going back to the early days of the nation. From the raising of the United States flag at Derna, Tripoli and the secret mission of Archibald H. Gillespie in California, to the Boxer Rebellion at Peking, Marines have served many times on special missions as couriers, guards for embassies and legations, and to protect American citizens in unsettled areas.

The formal and permanent use of Marines as security guards began with the Foreign Service Act of 1946, which authorized the Secretary of Navy to, upon the request of the Secretary of State, assign Marines to serve as custodians under the supervision of the senior diplomatic officer at a diplomatic post. The first joint Memorandum of Agreement was signed on 15 December 1948 regarding the provisions of assigning Marines overseas. Trained at the Foreign Service Institute, the first Marines arrived at Tangier and Bangkok in early 1949. The Marine Corps assumed the primary training responsibility in November 1954. The authority granted in the Foreign Service Act of 1946 has since been replaced by 10 U.S.C. § 5983 and the most recent Memorandum of Agreement was signed in August 2008.

That's just part of the wiki article.

Here's the link:

Marine Security Guard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[uscitizen]

But private contractors do so much better at guarding emabssies.

 

[tinydancer]

How many Marines would you have proposed putting there?

Wouldn't putting ground troops in Libya, at all, specifically be in violation of the War Powers Act?
Since Congress specifically forbid further involvement in the Libyan conflict?

Marine Security Guards aren't ground troops.

 

[tinydancer]

But private contractors do so much better at guarding emabssies.

Apparently private contractors had made bids to become the consulates security and were turned down.

Reported in many papers. Well at least overseas ones. I had a thread going on it right after the terror attack and my link was from the Daily Mail.

 

[Vast LWC]

Marine Security Guards aren't ground troops.

I'm sorry, did you say Marines aren't ground troops?

That's odd. I know a whole bunch of Marines, and I'm thinking they'd probably disagree with that assessment.

Be that as it may, I'm SURE that Republicans in congress would have jumped on any opportunity to embarrass the president.

So, I'm quite sure if he had put a larger than normal contingent of marines to guard the embassy, Congress would have interpreted their presence as "ground troops" for as long as it served their purposes.

 

[uscitizen]

The marines worked so well in Lebanon for Reagan.
Nothing is foolproof.

 

[tinydancer]

Marine Security Guards aren't ground troops.

I'm sorry, did you say Marines aren't ground troops?

That's odd. I know a whole bunch of Marines, and I'm thinking they'd probably disagree with that assessment.

Be that as it may, I'm SURE that Republicans in congress would have jumped on any opportunity to embarrass the president.

So, I'm quite sure if he had put a larger than normal contingent of marines to guard the embassy, Congress would have interpreted their presence as "ground troops" for as long as it served their purposes.

Oh bite me.

I've given you the link to the whole wiki piece on Marine Security Guards. They have a special designation and Marine Security Guards are present at US Embassies and Consulates world wide.

 

[Vast LWC]

Oh bite me.

I've given you the link to the whole wiki piece on Marine Security Guards. They have a special designation and Marine Security Guards are present at US Embassies and Consulates world wide.

Yes, and "military advisers" have special designations too.

I can just see the headlines at FoxNews.com:

"Obama sends in the Marines to Libya in defiance of the Constitution!"

"Ron Paul calls for impeachment!"

 

[Mad Scientist]

Sounds like fun! Hey everybody let's go join the Marines! Who's with me?


Anyone?

 

[Mad Scientist]

Oh bite me.

I've given you the link to the whole wiki piece on Marine Security Guards. They have a special designation and Marine Security Guards are present at US Embassies and Consulates world wide.

Yes, and "military advisers" have special designations too.

I can just see the headlines at FoxNews.com:

"Obama sends in the Marines to Libya in defiance of the Constitution!"

"Ron Paul calls for impeachment!"

One more:

"Nation Doesn't Care. Watches Opener of Season 20 of American Idol Instead".

 

[tinydancer]

Oh bite me.

I've given you the link to the whole wiki piece on Marine Security Guards. They have a special designation and Marine Security Guards are present at US Embassies and Consulates world wide.

Yes, and "military advisers" have special designations too.

I can just see the headlines at FoxNews.com:

"Obama sends in the Marines to Libya in defiance of the Constitution!"

"Ron Paul calls for impeachment!"

From my other post:

The formal and permanent use of Marines as security guards began with the Foreign Service Act of 1946, which authorized the Secretary of Navy to, upon the request of the Secretary of State, assign Marines to serve as custodians under the supervision of the senior diplomatic officer at a diplomatic post.

The first joint Memorandum of Agreement was signed on 15 December 1948 regarding the provisions of assigning Marines overseas.

Trained at the Foreign Service Institute, the first Marines arrived at Tangier and Bangkok in early 1949.

The Marine Corps assumed the primary training responsibility in November 1954. The authority granted in the Foreign Service Act of 1946 has since been replaced by 10 U.S.C. § 5983 and the most recent Memorandum of Agreement was signed in August 2008.

It's really just that simple.

 

[Vast LWC]

From my other post:

The formal and permanent use of Marines as security guards began with the Foreign Service Act of 1946, which authorized the Secretary of Navy to, upon the request of the Secretary of State, assign Marines to serve as custodians under the supervision of the senior diplomatic officer at a diplomatic post.

The first joint Memorandum of Agreement was signed on 15 December 1948 regarding the provisions of assigning Marines overseas.

Trained at the Foreign Service Institute, the first Marines arrived at Tangier and Bangkok in early 1949.

The Marine Corps assumed the primary training responsibility in November 1954. The authority granted in the Foreign Service Act of 1946 has since been replaced by 10 U.S.C. § 5983 and the most recent Memorandum of Agreement was signed in August 2008.

It's really just that simple.

What is "that simple"?

Do you think it matters to the people over at FauxNews why the marines were actually sent in?

Because it doesn't.

It also won't matter to the jackasses we currently have in the House. They'll pitch a fit, and go on a witch-hunt on the slightest provocation.

 

[Vel]

From my other post:

The formal and permanent use of Marines as security guards began with the Foreign Service Act of 1946, which authorized the Secretary of Navy to, upon the request of the Secretary of State, assign Marines to serve as custodians under the supervision of the senior diplomatic officer at a diplomatic post.

The first joint Memorandum of Agreement was signed on 15 December 1948 regarding the provisions of assigning Marines overseas.

Trained at the Foreign Service Institute, the first Marines arrived at Tangier and Bangkok in early 1949.

The Marine Corps assumed the primary training responsibility in November 1954. The authority granted in the Foreign Service Act of 1946 has since been replaced by 10 U.S.C. § 5983 and the most recent Memorandum of Agreement was signed in August 2008.

It's really just that simple.

What is "that simple"?

Do you think it matters to the people over at FauxNews why the marines were actually sent in?

Because it doesn't.

It also won't matter to the jackasses we currently have in the House. They'll pitch a fit, and go on a witch-hunt on the slightest provocation.

Embassy grounds are U.S. sovereign territory. That being said, right now, we don't know of ANY American that was assigned to defend the ambassador and his staff. The two ex-navy seals were not attached to the embassy. It would seem that we relied 100% on the Libyans for the lives of our people.