Where were the Marines?

[scollontrade]

I want to know how Obama and Mrs. Clinton could allow an American Consulate in an Islamic country to be in an unfortified position with NO MARINES. Are there any former Marines out there that served conulate or embassy duty thet can tell us how that works?

[jolena23]

I m not a Marine and I do not agree with what happened but would not they had to have ad ordered to do something? It would have been hard for them to watch what was happened. 

[alaric99x]

I want to know how Obama and Mrs. Clinton could allow an American Consulate in an Islamic country to be in an unfortified position with NO MARINES. Are there any former Marines out there that served conulate or embassy duty thet can tell us how that works?

The Marine Corps Security Group has a little over 1000 Marines assigned to about 125 embassies, worldwide.  You do the math, that would be less than 10 Marines in each embassy, and they're not all going to be on duty 24 hours a day.  I've served on a number of joint missions with the Marines.  I assure you, almost all Marines would be more than willing to sacrifice their own lives to protect any diplomatic or embassy personnel.  My son served 11 months (US Army) out of his 5 years of service at the US embassy in Nigeria, not the safest place on the planet for US military personnel to be either.  He wore a business suit on duty and carried a 9mm Beretta pistol, I have no doubt he would also have given his life to protect embassy personnel.  He also served a further year in Iraq.

How much time have you spent in the uniformed services?  21 years and 3 months, US Army for me.  You go ahead to the next embassy assaulted by an angry mob and then come back telling me war stories about what a hero you turned out to be.

Thank you very little for the obvious lack of appreciation you express for the military service of the uniformed personnel we have in many locations around the planet, I certainly won't expect any thanks from you for my own military service.

Incidentally, what you want to write next time is "consulate," not "conulate" as you spelled it.  Also, what you mean to write is presumably "that," and not "thet" as you spelled it.  

[alaric99x]

I m not a Marine and I do not agree with what happened but would not they had to have ad ordered to do something? It would have been hard for them to watch what was happened.  

The Marines don't need any orders when embassy personnel are threatened, they are trained to take action long before that happens.  All of us in the military are well trained in the rules of the Geneva Convention and the Rules of Engagement in any area or country where we happen to be deployed.  That kind of information is pounded into our heads well before we're deployed in any area of possible conflict .

You don't need to ask for orders when an emergency happens, you've already been trained in what to do and you're expected to take the initiative immediately.  The US military is so thoroughly trained and effective in carrying out that training that our privates often have more authority and responsibility than lieutenants in many lesser nations.  It's called "power down," give the authority to the lowest rank where it can be effectively applied.  Very few other nations on the planet understand that concept and know how to apply it.  They have a shepherd and a flock of sheep, we, in the US military, have a herd of decision makers from the lowest to the highest ranks.

[alaric99x]

To any of my fellow service members of the United States Marine Corps, I salute you, regardless of how long you may have served.  Semper Fidelis, we Army guys were always trying to be almost as good as you guys were. 

[falcon9]

The question which precedes ones regarding the Marines and embassy security is, 'what was the xtian instigation of this muslim reaction?'

"American non-profit Media for Christ obtained film permits to shoot the movie, ('Innocence of Muslims') in August 2011, and Nakoula provided his home as a set and paid the actors, according to government officials and those involved in the production. Media for Christ president Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih reportedly went into hiding after the violent response to the film.

The film has been promoted by pastor Terry Jones, whose burning of copies of the Quran previously led to deadly riots around the world. On September 11, 2012, Jones said that he planned to show a 13-minute trailer that night at his church the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida.

Innocence of Muslims, (previously called Innocence of Bin Laden (working title: Desert Warrior), is an amateur 2012 film that disparages Islam and its prophet, Muhammad. Months after its release, violent protests against Western institutions in several Muslim countries resulted in a number of deaths, and hundreds of injuries. Two film trailers were released on YouTube, on July 1 and 2, 2012. The clips were dubbed into Arabic, and then spread by Egyptian-American lawyer and Coptic Christian Morris Sadek."

--excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence_of_Muslims

[alaric99x]

Yeah, the "Media for Christ" network and organization, thank them and all the other radical christians that support them for getting our embassy personnel overseas endangered and killed.  No credit, of course, to the radical muslims.  They are the biggest and most dangerous idiots on the planet today, but the radical christian idiots are not very far behind them.

[falcon9]

Yeah, the "Media for Christ" network and organization, thank them and all the other radical christians that support them for getting our embassy personnel overseas endangered and killed.  No credit, of course, to the radical muslims.  They are the biggest and most dangerous idiots on the planet today, but the radical christian idiots are not very far behind them.

Agreed; you don't see a whole lot of media coverage of radical xtians attacking embassies because they're busy egging-on the radical muslims.

[dmahoney]

you cant blame the christians for this one! Why dont you get off your atheist highhorse and try blaming the terrorist that did the crime. We ARE in America where we have the Right of free speech and should use it and protect it. Thats what lets you spew your venom on a daily basis on here.

[falcon9]

you cant blame the christians for this one!

The first ones pointing the finger at 'Media For Christ' for supporting the making of a video which disparaged muslims were muslims.

Why dont you get off your atheist highhorse and try blaming the terrorist that did the crime.

There's no high horse involved; Al Queda may have been behind the embassy attacks, using the media-generated muslim outrage as cover.

We ARE in America where we have the Right of free speech and should use it and protect it. Thats what lets you spew your venom on a daily basis on here.

That's the same "right" which lets radical Egyptian coptic-xtians make videos which enrage muslims and permits fundie xtians to spew mind-blinding religious proselytization from the depths of their ignorance.  It's also the same "right" which permits opposition to such blind faith-based ignorance.

[elandry]

While the film clips that are being blamed for these attacks are ridiculous and deplorable, it is my personal belief the clips are an excuse-- a very handy one. Our antagonists are testing us to see how far we will go to protect our people abroad, most likely in preparation for further acts of aggression. I find the entire situation highly suspicious, and I am not very pleased with our government's response to the growing threat these extremists represent both to our armed forces and our government and civilian employees overseas. I feel our Marines, and the other troops both at home and abroad, are very committed to doing their duty-- which is why we haven't lost more embassy staff over the years. The troops, however, are bound by the Geneva Convention, the UCMJ and a host of other protocols that may end up getting more Americans killed, given the current tactics being employed by the extremists.

Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing-- of course, had we less freedom of speech, there would be fewer idiotic rants on the internet to upset the extremists. They would have to find a different convenient excuse for their actions.

[Armand2REP]

Diplomatic security is now carried out by private military contractors like DynCorp or Aegis.  It is much cheaper to hire contractors than Marines that require all the benefits and services which contractors do not get.  Considering his service detail included former Navy SEALs they weren't lacking in experience.  The contract paid by the State Department was on the cheap as they thought Benghazi was a low threat level.   The criticism is making the mistake that it wasn't.  Blaming Obama for not assigning Marines to a practice started by Bush/Cheney's affinity for military contractors... Halliburton cough cough is a bit disingenuous.   

[falcon9]

Diplomatic security is now carried out by private military contractors like DynCorp or Aegis.  It is much cheaper to hire contractors than Marines that require all the benefits and services which contractors do not get.  Considering his service detail included former Navy SEALs they weren't lacking in experience.  The contract paid by the State Department was on the cheap as they thought Benghazi was a low threat level.   The criticism is making the mistake that it wasn't.  Blaming Obama for not assigning Marines to a practice started by Bush/Cheney's affinity for military contractors... Halliburton cough cough is a bit disingenuous.   

I concur with this assessment and add an inquiry.  If privately-contracted security is insufficient to protect lives and interests, what's the alternative?