Indonesia orders troops out by end of March

[Woodmonkey]

ABOARD THE USS BONHOMME RICHARD (AP) -- Cpl. Sean Foley looks around the ship's main armory and takes a quick inventory. The room is overflowing with guns. Pistols, sniper rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers.

But for the time being, it's all staying right here.

In an effort to ease the fears of local officials, Marines participating in the humanitarian mission to help Indonesia recover from the earthquake and tsunami that have killed more than 100,000 people on the island of Sumatra have agreed to leave their weapons behind whenever they go ashore.

For many Marines, that's tantamount to traveling naked.

"They didn't even want us to have protection like helmets and body armor, let alone weapons, because it might look threatening,'' said Foley, of Erie, Pa. "That's crazy.''

His concern isn't unfounded.

Though the nearly 2,000 Marines on this ship and another nearby have only just begun to trickle ashore, and are generally returning to the ship each night, the area in which they are operating presents some significant security threats.

Rebels have long been active in this region, so much so that the Indonesian government had largely restricted it from foreigners. Though a lull followed the Dec. 26 disaster, firefights near the provincial capital of Banda Aceh have been reported recently.

"We are concerned,'' said Col. Tom Greenwood, commanding officer of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which was diverted from duty in Iraq to join in the humanitarian operation. "The Indonesian government is taking it very seriously.''

But Indonesian officials have also been reluctant to let the Marines come ashore with their weapons because of the image that might project.

"We are very concerned about force protection,'' Greenwood said. "But if you go in there and look like an invading force instead of a humanitarian force, that could be just as detrimental as having no security whatsoever. So you have to balance it.''

In the devastated city of Meulaboh, where the Marines are expected to do much of their work and unload the bulk of their relief supplies, heavily armed Indonesian soldiers provide security.

In an exception to the no-weapons orders, Marine helicopter pilots have been allowed to carry their standard protection. Marines have also been careful to maintain close communications with their ship.

Officials stressed, however, that security was in the Indonesians' hands.

"We have full confidence in their ability to provide adequate force protection,'' said Gunnery Sgt. Robert Knoll, a spokesman for the Marines.

"We won't be using any of these,'' Cpl. Jeff Austin, of Salt Lake City, Utah, said as he set up a .50 caliber sniper rifle in the armory. "I guess the no weapons rule is understandable, since this is a humanitarian thing. But it's quite a switch for us. Usually, we never leave home without them.''

[/quote]
http://www.sundaygazettemail.com/sec...s/News/ap0442n

[cato2]

They come as Humanitarians. They are trained to fight our countries battles. They are now stripped of the tools of their real profession. And told to go forth and help these victims. A noble gesture of the highest order. Or a Fool's Folly, which may explode in the face of the policy makers.

Beirut comes to mind. Marines in a hotel as a sitting target in a volatile combat zone. They died without being allowed to protect themselves they way they were trained. Instead they were put into a building that allowed all of them to be in one centralized area and exposed. The fanatical terrorist of the Middle East exploited that weakness. And the Marines have never forgotten that lesson.

Now, once again the policy makers have asked the Marines to do what they consider to be the better good. To once again walk into a potential death trap and go completely unarmed and unprotected.

Is it understandable that the world wants to help these victims of a disaster of huge magnitude? Yes, I think there is a sincere effort to help those people. But they are asking the United States to send in the Marines to help. But tying their hands behind their backs in the process.

Indonesia is 88% Muslim, and contains terrorist networks within that country:

Ethnic groups:

Javanese 45%, Sundanese 14%, Madurese 7.5%, coastal Malays 7.5%, other 26%

Religions:

Muslim 88%, Protestant 5%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 2%, Buddhist 1%, other 1% (1998)
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/id.html

Into this potential hotbed of this Muslim country go forth the Marines to help those people.

I certainly hope that there is a contingency plan in which those Marines can be rearmed if attacked. And I would like to think, that part of that agreement reached was that there could be a response if fired upon.

[ebbabc]

http://www.sundaygazettemail.com/sec...s/News/ap0442n[/quote]


Not that anyone will listen to me, but, OVER MY DEAD BODY.

Far too many Muslims just waiting for an opportunity to knock off some more Americans.

[scott.voigt]

The region is known for terrorist activities and not our home... we must have a means of defending ourselves from attack

[Woodmonkey]

"They didn't even want us to have protection like helmets and body armor, let alone weapons, because it might look threatening,'' said Foley, of Erie, Pa. "That's crazy.''

...

Though the nearly 2,000 Marines on this ship and another nearby have only just begun to trickle ashore, and are generally returning to the ship each night, the area in which they are operating presents some significant security threats.

Rebels have long been active in this region, so much so that the Indonesian government had largely restricted it from foreigners.

Has our government gone nuts? Why do our Marines have to put themselves at needless risk to help people?

But Indonesian officials have also been reluctant to let the Marines come ashore with their weapons because of the image that might project.

Image? They want the image to be that of vulnerability? And our government is going along with it?

Officials stressed, however, that security was in the Indonesians' hands.

And the Indonesians are more capable than our Marines? They will risk their lives to protect them?

What will they do if a Marine is killed needlessly? This is the perfect opportunity for our enemies to take one out.

[cominatcha]

Here's a reply.....KISS MY A$$,AND DO IT YOURSELF.....Ain't no way in hell that I would go ashore without my equipment.Bad things man,Bad things

[scott.voigt]

Marines won’t set up camp; Paris Group offers to suspend debt


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754820/

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Indonesia announced that U.S. and other foreign troops providing tsunami disaster relief must leave the country by the end of March and ordered aid workers Wednesday to declare their travel plans or face expulsion from devastated Aceh province on Sumatra island.

The government’s moves highlight its sensitivities over a foreign military operation in this country — albeit a humanitarian one — and underscore its efforts to regain control of Aceh province, the scene of a decades-old conflict between separatist rebels and federal troops accused of human rights abuses.

In Paris, meanwhile, the world’s wealthiest nations said they supported a moratorium on debt repayments by countries stricken by the Dec. 26 disaster, which has killed more than 150,000 people.

The latest restrictions placed on the international presence came as the aircraft carrier leading the U.S. military’s tsunami relief effort steamed out of Indonesian waters Wednesday after the government declined to let the ship’s fighter pilots use its airspace for training missions. The USS Abraham Lincoln’s diversion was not expected to affect aid flights, however.

U.S. Marines have also scaled back their plans to send hundreds of troops ashore to build roads and clear rubble. The two sides reached a compromise in which the Americans agreed not to set up a base camp on Indonesia or carry weapons.

Instead, the Marines, about 2,000 of whom were diverted to tsunami relief from duty in Iraq, will keep a “minimal footprint” in the country, with most returning to ships at night, said Col. Tom Greenwood, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

U.S. seeks explanation
In Washington, the White House asked the Indonesian government to explain why it was demanding that the U.S. military and other foreign troops providing disaster relief leave the country by March 31.

“We’ve seen the reports. ... We’ll seek further clarification from Indonesia about what this means,” said Scott McClellan, press secretary to President Bush. “We hope that the government of Indonesia and the military in Indonesia will continue the strong support they have provided to the international relief efforts so far.”


In announcing the decision, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Tuesday that “a three-month period is enough, even sooner the better.”

Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi explained that Indonesia hoped to take over the humanitarian work by March 26, exactly three months after the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake set off waves across southern Asia and Africa that killed more than 150,000 people, two-thirds of them on Sumatra.

Starting Jan. 26, Indonesia will “gradually take over the role of foreign military and non-military assistance,” Silalahi said. By Feb. 26, he said, Indonesia’s role should be larger than that of the foreigners.