US Marine occupation battalions

 

"Defense analyst Loren Thompson said the battalions make sense given the nature of today's global threats, which include powerful drug cartels and other criminal gangs that often mix with religious and political extremists, who use the profits to buy their weaponry.

"This is a smart idea because the biggest single problem the Marines have in dealing with low-intensity types of threats is that they basically are trained to kill people," he said. "It's good for the Marines to have skills that allow them to contain threats without creating casualties."

Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University, said Marines have already been doing this kind of work for years but now that it has been made more formal by the creation of the battalions, it could raise a host of questions, especially on the use of force. The law of war allows for fighters to use deadly force as a first resort, while police officers use it as a last resort."  Stars and Stripes

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"A day late and a dollar short..."  The US will not be occupying any more countries for quite a while.  pl

 

http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/stories/U/US_MARINES_LAW_ENFORCEMENT_BATTALION?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-22-10-01-29

Comments

[The Moar You Know]

I thought the way this was supposed to work was that the Marines came in, killed everyone that needed it, and then the Army did the occupying/pacification. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong about this (and I likely am).

The most important takeaway:

"The US will not be occupying any more countries for quite a while."

I pray you're right. Our economy certainly can't handle it, although that's not my main concern. I think the effects on the polis are self-evident. This nation badly needs an across-the-board dose of humility and self-restraint.

[turcopolier]

TMYK

I suppose your view of this depends on your time scale. IMO the marines made their bones attacking fly speck sized Pacific islands each defended by entrenched Japanese. Bravo. The carnage was impressive. The Army did the serious killing in WW2.both in Europe and the Pacific. Go look at the number of Japanese dead in the Phillipienes in '44-'45. The "Corps's" larger history is all about colonial expeditions with a few thousand troops in China, Nicaragua, Haiti, etc. pl

[Neil Richardson]

Dear Col. Lang:

I am always amazed by the effectiveness of the propaganda. One could easily get the impression that the Marines broke out of the siege at Khe Sanh instead of waiting around for the First Cav to arrive.

[mbrenner]

We now are organizing and training 'elite' units in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya to combat spin-off drug operations. This is another arrow in Africa Command's quiver. Have gun, money, & mandate: will go anywhere do anything. Supply looking for demand.

Would someone please enlighten me as to why drug cartels, wherever they operate, are a threat to the United States? Drug addiction on a mass scale is a threat to the United States, i.e. hard drugs - a category that does not include marijuana which is well proven to be far less addictive and hazardous than alcohol. So long as that demand exists, there will be suppliers. Decades of the 'drug war' have had zero effect - except for the tens of thousands who've been killed as a result in Mexico, Columbia, Honduras and - soon - Africa.

We have seen the threat; it is us here at home. A society that produces more drug users than any other in the developed world. By the way, here in California where I'm visiting marijuana 'criminals' are the largesdt category of prisoners in a penal system that costs more than the state's endangered higher education system.

[turcopolier]

mbrenner

These MPs will have their asses handed to them in anything other tha n a benign environment. pl

[turcopolier]

NR

Task Force Pegasus rode up the road to relieve them. pl

[Fred]

MB,

Those prisoners in the California penal system represent a steady cash flow stream to the for profit prison industry. We can't be 'soft' on 'crime' or somebody's business model goes right into the tank.

[E L]

Colonel;
"The US will not be occupying any more countries for quite a while." You might want to inform Romney's close advisors John Bolton, Dough Feith and assorted other unreconstructed neo-cons. They thrive on a straight diet of US armed imperialism. And now Romney's off to visit with his Wall Street buddy, Bibi. They'll mourn the fact that Obama won't pull the trigger on Iran and gleefully anticipate Romney getting his finger on the trigger. Iran should make a nice, little imperial adventure for Romney to demonstrate US international "moral" leadership. No more wimpy negotiations for the US; we'll give those mullah crazies a "whiff of grapeshot."

[turcopolier]

EL

You may be right but IMO the absence of funds and Romney's business background would prevent occupation commitments in his term. pl

[steve g]

To channel my ex-governor Jesse Ventura
and get a little conspiritorial, what if
these battalions are deployed in the USA
for the reasons outlined in their mandate?
A posse comitatus arguement against this
theory. Yes. But since 911 haven't we abrogated
or ignored many of our constitutional rights.
Habeus corpus, the executive option of imprison-
ing or assassinating American citizens anywhere
in the world for perceived threats to national
security, and NSA now monitoring all social
domestic traffic, including this message. Saw a
video a couple of months ago from Tampa Florida,
the Republican Convention site, of a joint task
force special ops demo on the Hillsborough River
downtown. A coordinated exercise with other groups
from various countries showcasing their skills and
equipment. The purpose was a glorified police action
against possible "terrorists" holding hostages etc.
Just a theory of course.

[ked]

the "a day late & a dollar short" circumstance underpins consultancy business models all around & within the beltway.

[Lars]

If you go to Intrade.com and look under "Foreign Affairs" and then under "Iran", you will see that not a lot of people are putting money on an attack on Iran. I consider opinions backed by personal money to be a better indicator.

[The Moar You Know]

Sir:

Thank you for setting me straight. There's a lot I don't know about military history - our own or anyone else's.

[Charles]

Okay, I just read the article and I may be a bit old fashioned but why is it so wrong for the tip of the spear to be about killing people and blowing stuff up? If we need to train police we can bring candidates from our "allied nations" to any of the thousands of police academies located in CONUS. The military should be the big stick part of our foreign policy. We should talk softly but let the world know that we are willing and able to unleash them to do the killing and blowing up if need be.
This is truely insane.

[Basilisk]

I seem to remember a helluva preparation of the battlefield via Arc Light.

[turcopolier]

charles

"the tip of the spear?" The USMC? Through most of their history they have been gate guards at naval bases and prisons, door guards fr admirals and presidents, legation guards, 50 man shipboard detachmnts to provide additional ship's gun crew's (as in "gunnery sergeant"), small landing parties and other minor duties. Their fatalities in the Mexican War were 25 killed. pl

[Charles]

Col,
Sorry that I wasn't clear. I was speaking of the military combat arms in general to include all services.
Regards,