Xref: utzoo talk.politics.misc:7668 alt.flame:1735 Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ncsuvx!uwmcsd1!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!lazarus From: lazarus@athena.mit.edu (Michael Friedman) Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.flame Subject: Re: Bullet-proof passports? Message-ID: <3276@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> Date: 27 Feb 88 08:20:08 GMT References: <3184@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <3096@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <792@athos.rutgers.edu> <9612@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> <4568@pucc.Princeton.EDU> <4581@pucc.Princeton.EDU> Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU Reply-To: lazarus@athena.mit.edu (Michael Friedman) Organization: Murder Inc. Lines: 94 In article <4581@pucc.Princeton.EDU} Q2816@pucc.Princeton.EDU writes: }In article <3184@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU}, lazarus@athena.mit.edu (Michael Friedman) writes: } }}In article <4568@pucc.Princeton.EDU} Q2816@pucc.Princeton.EDU writes: }}}In article <3096@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU}, lazarus@athena.mit.edu (Michael Friedman) writes: }}Perhaps }}you have heard of the war we had with the Barbary pirates? That's the }}origin of the slogan "Millions for defense, but not one cent for }}tribute.". The European nations paid off the Barbary pirates. We }}didn't. They kidnapped American citizens and attacked American ships. }}We went to war and kicked their butts. }So? What has this to do with Lebanon or the rights of Americans }abroad? It was in our economic interest to fight the Barbary pirates. }We didn't do it because of a slogan. No. We did it because we refused to let our citizens be kidnapped and because we weren't willing to pay tribute to prevent this. That is why it is relevant to Lebanon. }}}They [the Marines] died because they were on a mission they were unprepared for. }}}The CinC sent them there against the wishes of the Commandant and the }}}heads of other services. They were untrained as peacekeepers. }}There is no great trick to being a peacekeeper. All you do is put }}yourself between the warring factions and tell them "If you fight you }}die." It takes no special skills. }Then you get into a war with the people you're trying to stop from }warring. }Nice going, Michael. You've just descibed something called "occupation." }It's NOT the same as peacekeeping. So what's the difference? You tell me. How do you 'peacekeep' }}It [peacekeeping] doesn't take proper training. And who ever heard of doing a }}peacekeeping job with unloaded weapons? }Peacekeeping most certainly DOES take training. Ask the Commandant }of the Corps. }You must know who the warring parties are, That's called a briefing. } command some respect, That's called being obviously strong enough to do a lot of damage. It doesn't take special training. That is part of the normal mission of the Marines. } understand what to do and not to do in order to keep from }antagonizing the warring parties into doing something that endangers }you, them and the populace, etc. This last is the nub. Please expand on it. }Lt. Col. Higgins, the most recent hostage, is one of these men. To }suggest that the job he did was worthless or not requiring any skill }beyond military training is to betray an ignorance a thousand times }worse than the kind I accused you of in my last posting. You simply }haven't a clue. So what does it take? }}I. You don't reply to the argument. Do you agree that it is shameful }}that we didn't retaliate? }We should retaliate if our commitment to the area involves fighting a }war based on that retaliation. By retaliating, we lose our status }as pecekeepers, such as it was. Don't be silly. Once we left our 'status as peacekeepers' was unimportant. Retaliation does not have to mean war. Bombing raids work just as well. }}}And by the way, the job of the Marines is amphibious landings. Not }}}peacekeeping. }}Wrong. The Marines are an elite force. You use them when you have a }}tough job. }Wrong. They are not trained to do the tough day-after-day job of }peacekeeping. The troops themselves said they felt out of place, }unable to get a handle on the job they were there to do. When in doubt, ask a Marine. I asked a guy in Marine ROTC. According to him, if you want to do something like what we did in Lebanon you use the Marines. These are the official opinions Mike Friedman of my organization. So, TOUGH!!