President Obama has been very clear that he will not use American ground combat troops in the war against ISIS. Now we learn that he is sending up to 3000 troops to West Africa to help in the fight against Ebola. Huh?
The fight with ISIS is a military mission. It is one that the troops have been trained to do. It is one that the American military can handle. On the other hand, the fight against Ebola is a medical one. US non-medical forces never trained to handle an epidemic. It makes no sense to send American soldiers into a zone of danger when they are not even trained to handle the problem. It would be like sending 3000 fifteen year olds to drive on the highway where they can learn how to drive with "on the job training".
Obama is not just risking the three thousand troops, which would be bad enough. He also risks spreading the epidemic to the USA when these same people return to America.
I have no problem with the USA supporting the fight against Ebola. I support the idea of trained medical personnel going to Africa (should they so choose) to help with that effort. I also support increased funding by the USA for this effort. I just think that it is crazy to send soldiers with no relevant training into harm's way to fight the disease.
I know that Obama wants to be seen as a humanitarian leader. After all, maybe he can win another meaningless Nobel Peace Prize. But it is neither humanitarian nor even intelligent to send untrained American soldiers into danger in Africa.
The fight with ISIS is a military mission. It is one that the troops have been trained to do. It is one that the American military can handle. On the other hand, the fight against Ebola is a medical one. US non-medical forces never trained to handle an epidemic. It makes no sense to send American soldiers into a zone of danger when they are not even trained to handle the problem. It would be like sending 3000 fifteen year olds to drive on the highway where they can learn how to drive with "on the job training".
Obama is not just risking the three thousand troops, which would be bad enough. He also risks spreading the epidemic to the USA when these same people return to America.
I have no problem with the USA supporting the fight against Ebola. I support the idea of trained medical personnel going to Africa (should they so choose) to help with that effort. I also support increased funding by the USA for this effort. I just think that it is crazy to send soldiers with no relevant training into harm's way to fight the disease.
I know that Obama wants to be seen as a humanitarian leader. After all, maybe he can win another meaningless Nobel Peace Prize. But it is neither humanitarian nor even intelligent to send untrained American soldiers into danger in Africa.
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