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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRemember this? US will send 3,000 troops to help fight Ebola in West Africa
http://nypost.com/2014/09/16/us-will-send-3000-troops-to-help-fight-ebola-in-west-africa/Last I heard, they're still going, with the first group about ready to leave.
So, for those who are talking about stopping flights from Ebola-stricken countries, what about this? Should they go and not be able to come back?
Or is it just the poor black people in West Africa we should keep out of the US?
I live in the Minneapolis St. Paul area. Guess what? We have the largest population of Liberian immigrants in the US here. They have, you know, relatives and stuff there. Some of them fly there and back. They're all very worried about those relatives. Should we lock them down from coming and going?
Really?
It's time to stop and think, not time to jerk our knees, I think.
We have TWO cases of Ebola in the US. TWO. Both are hospitalized. Both have all contacts under observation.
uppityperson
(115,681 posts)imo
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)They're going for infrastructure and other stuff.
Nobody seems that interested in an official way with sending medical personnel there. I can't imagine why that is, or maybe I can.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)librechik
(30,678 posts)erecting quarantine tents, keeping track of contactees, controlling mobs--
the stuff they can do. It's desperately needed.
since we don't have a national health service to order around, this is the next best thing. I suppose.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)Lets hope they stay safe
Salviati
(6,009 posts)But that's the thing with being in the military, you go where they tell you and you do what you're supposed to.
At least when this is over, hopefully they can feel like they actually made a positive difference.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)Little Star
(17,055 posts)MineralMan
(146,345 posts)scarystuffyo
(733 posts)QUESTION: Will they be in contact with individuals or just specimens?
RODRIGUEZ: They come in contact with the individuals.
Of course this was followed by a stream of qualifiers that all protection possible will be taken (just like the nurses in Madrid?)
Via Bloomberg Transcript,
KIRBY: Afternoon, everybody. I'm proud to welcome into the briefing room General David Rodriguez, commander of Africa Command. He's here to give you an update on U.S. contributions to the effort against Ebola -- U.S. military contributions to the effort against Ebola in West Africa. And with that, sir, I'll turn it over to you.
QUESTION: Just a clarification on that, please. Will they be in contact with individuals or just specimens?
GENERAL DAVID M. RODRIGUEZ (USA), COMMANDER, U.S. AFRICA COMMAND: They come in contact with the individuals and they do that. And they're -- like I said, it's a -- it's a very, very high standard that these people have operated in all their lives, and this is their primary skill. This is not a -- you know, just medical guys trained to do this. This is what they do for a living
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)Others will be doing engineering and infrastructure work. All will have ample opportunities to be exposed. And they will be brought back to the US, as they should be.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)directly with people dying from the virus.
Sure they will take every precaution but they will eat in the same mess hall etc...
This is nothing to be taken lightly
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)US Defense Department officials say Gen. David Rodriguez misspoke when he said US military lab technicians would be in contact with Ebola patients;
military technicians will instead be testing specimen samples from suspected Ebola victims .@NBCNews
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)By Jeff Mason and James Harding Giahyue - Sep 16, 2014
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, September 16, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing
ATLANTA/MONROVIA (Reuters) -
...Obama's plan calls for sending 3,000 troops, including engineers and medical personnel; establishing a regional command and control center in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, commanded by Major General Darryl Williams, who arrived there on Tuesday; and forming a staging area in Senegal to help distribute personnel and aid on the ground. It also calls for building 17 treatment centers with 100 beds each; placing U.S. Public Health Service personnel in new field hospitals in Liberia; training thousands of healthcare workers for six months or longer; and creating an "air bridge" to get health workers and medical supplies into West Africa more quickly. The worst Ebola outbreak since the disease was identified in 1976 has already killed nearly 2,500 people and is threatening to spread elsewhere in Africa. Obama said "the world is looking to us" to take the lead against Ebola, but urged other nations also to take action because the epidemic is "spiraling out of control" and "people are literally dying in the streets..."
Obama said that if the outbreak is not stopped now, hundreds of thousands of people may become infected, "with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us."
"This is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security. Its a potential threat to global security, if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic. That has profound effects on all of us, even if we are not directly contracting the disease," Obama added...
Liberians hailed the word that U.S. troops were coming, recalling a military operation in 2003 that helped stabilize the country during a civil war. "This is welcome news. This is what we expected from the U.S. a long time ago," Anthony Mulbah, a student at the University of Monrovia, said in the dilapidated oceanfront capital. "The U.S. remains a strong partner to Liberia." In Liberia, a shortage of space in clinics for isolating victims means patients are being turned away, then infecting others. Ebola spreads rapidly, causes fever and uncontrolled bleeding...
The U.S. intervention comes as the pace of cash and emergency supplies dispatched to the region accelerates.
Before Tuesday, Washington had sent about 100 health officials and committed some $175 million in aid. Other nations, including Cuba, China, France and Britain; have pledged medical workers, health centers and other forms of support. Critics, including regional leaders, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Peter Piot, one of the scientists who discovered Ebola in 1976; have said international efforts so far have fallen woefully short...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/16/us-health-ebola-obama-idUSKBN0HB08S20140916
Comments on this piece when cited on another website ranged from 'Good job, Obama'; to conservatives saying to let them all die, Obama will bring the infected troops home to kill us like the Spanish flu; to factual rebuttals on every bit of conservative error and hysteria. Rebuttals:
*I have to say that most of the posters here should be ashamed of their comments. They show your lack of understanding of the world as well as a couple with some thinly veiled racism. None of you could be involved with a church that sends medical people throughout the world to help in countries where people are dying. You also dont have any friends or relatives working in the oils business who work in places like this. You all should work on your compassion a wee bit.
*Yall, of course, realize that the US military doesnt just consist of guys with guns, right? There are engineers, doctors, nurses, scientists. Heck, there already is one health center in Liberia being run by US military personnel. And, of course, if the US sends engineers, doctors and nurses in there will need to be some guys with guns to protect them. Why should we do that? Because ebola will spread. The CDC is already working with hospitals in the US on how to deal with it. It is in our interest to contain that and minimize the impact. also, troops have been training for germ warfare, exposure to this type of situation.
*Why do people think ISIS needs to be contained but not Ebola? Why do people think that people who wish harm to the US are not trying to leverage the outbreak of Ebola against the US? This is why we cannot allow this to fester in anarchy. That, and we are human beings who are supposed to care about other defenseless humans beings who are suffering from this outbreak.
*This will be a great opportunity for our CBN (chemical biological nuclear)Trained troops to get the real hands on Bio-warfare training. Good to have this knowledge for the future. With Synthetic Biology and the ease of modifying the genetics of organisms, we will see terrorists and even Military uses of Hemorrhagic and other diseases in our lifetimes. If ISIS or some other group got one of their members sick then he could be transported to USA or Europe and blow himself up in a crowed place. You Obama haters better use logic and not emotion with this issue.
*The 1918 Flu originated in Haskell County, Kansas, spread to US Army bases, went to surrounding cities, went to US ports, and went to foreign ports and Europe. It was called the Spanish Flu because most countries, including the US, Allies, and Central Powers, had censorship to conceal bad news, so Spanish newspapers were the only source of information about the 1918 Influenza Epidemic that came from the US. It should have been called the Kansas Flu.
*Folks, there are daily flights from the Unites States to these West African countries and back. Some of those arriving on the flights are your neighbors, co-workers, childrens classmates, neighborhood small business employees, etc. The United States is the largest melting pot in the world as far as people diversity goes. Even if direct flights to these countries are stopped, you cannot stop people from seeing their family members theyll always find a way. It is in your best interest that the United States helps to contain the disease there in West Africa than wait for it to get here. Its only a matter of time before it gets here.
Those were responses to posts claiming that the Spanish Flu was why we went to WW1, and part of President Wilson's plot to kill Americans.
More posters pushed the theme that Obama wants infected troops to come back and decimate the American population in the same way.
The rebuttals show a realistic world view. We should go abroad since whatever is going on elsewhere, will be here. Because we are an immigrant culture and government must take action to protect all of us.
We hear a lot of hatred toward world cultures and connections, even from those who benefit. Isn't this how world peace is supposed to come about?
From the thread I posted two weeks ago. I've since updated it with more and we've had some good updates by Dhhhd and others.
I appreciate your support for your Librerian neighbors.
This a medical mission, it's certainly not what Louie Gohmert says:
His statement about the military being trained only to kill people shows he learned his knowledge on the subject from Rush, who says the military only exists to 'break things and kill people.' That is untrue.
'Talking with someone today about how much fear and misinformation is being put out there. As it's hard to relax when everyone is yelling 'fire'.
TheNutcracker
(2,104 posts)MineralMan
(146,345 posts)Just not those others. I get it.
We are not going to leave our military there. I dont see anything wrong with flying US citizens who contract ebola back to the US on a medical flight.
I dont see a problem with denying a visa to people who are not US citizens and were recently in a dangeous area within the last 30 days.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)volunteers, trying to save people's lives? How about them? If they come back, they could bring Ebola with them, just as easily as someone without a US Passport. I don't think the virus checks nationality.
This is sounding more and more ugly all the time. People are saying, "Well, we can bring back our military people and US citizens, but not those "other folks." I don't think you've thought through exactly what you're saying really means. Really I don't.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)The US has a duty to protect its citizens. When a war breaks out we typically evacuate our citizens. When disaster hita we send in aid and attempt to evacuate our citizens
I kbow the virus doesnt care about nationally, but the risks are worth it to get a US citizen back home. I dont think its worth it for a tourist who wants to visit the US.
Or another scenario. If a US citizen was taken hostage by ISIS and we know where he is, send in the US military ti rescue him. If he is a British citizen give the info to the British government, but I dont think we should attempt the rescue.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)Never mind...
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)is pretty damn special to me and deserves the best available treatment.
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)I have the greatest admiration for anyone who does that. They are heroes.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)But US citizens are just superior beings. Why, you can just see the superiority just oozing out of people like Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"I kbow the virus doesnt care about nationally..."
I'd imagine that's because national borders are completely imaginary, and allows to rationalize that one person has more value than another.
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)We don't leave anyone behind. Period.
Shouldn't that be the same for our volunteers who are RISKING THEIR LIVES to help others?
You are making it about race. It isn't. It's about not having the capacity to safely handle hundreds of people who would suddenly get on a plane to get treatment here.
And FYI, my daughter is an RN in a Texas hospital in an area with a large population from Liberia, so maybe I have a particular reason not to have dozens of folks with ebola showing up where she works.
uppityperson
(115,681 posts)Or will they get to be with family, friends, other military people? Or just "more scrutinized"?
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)Or something.
librechik
(30,678 posts)they are incredibly brave to go anyway. I hope they stay well.
librechik
(30,678 posts)this is new territory--they'll be dealing with unknowns and trying to build protocols for the future. Let's be honest, some may die. Good thing it's a volunteer army nowadays.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Remember back in Gulf War I when all the airlines were pissed off that the military demanded the airlines fly soldiers to the Gulf?
They'd been paid quite nicely for a very long time to be available if the DoD wanted them, and they never expected the DoD to actually call in their chips.
Now, in this situation they'd probably be military flights, but a travel ban is a travel ban. Wearing a uniform doesn't make one immune to ebola. If a travel ban is absolutely necessary for civilians, it's just as necessary for military personnel.
If you want to excuse military personnel, then that's just trying to weasel out of the results of demanding a travel ban.
PADemD
(4,482 posts)I'd tell my healthy relatives to stay home. If you love your relatives, why would you want them to take a chance on becoming infected?
Do you remember the 1956 polio epidemic in the United States? One of my classmate's whole family was quarantined. No work, school, or visitors.
Even today, I tell family members not to visit if I'm sick with a cold or flu. It's common sense and love of family.
Little Star
(17,055 posts)Visiting can wait until this thing is under control because it's not now for sure.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)So that means that she is a quitter.
Just like her hero, Sister Sarah!
By the way, since you said you live in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, I'm curious, was she your congressional representative in the House?
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)Go look her up.
Mnpaul
(3,655 posts)but I'm not happy 'cause her replacement(assumed) is almost as loony and an even bigger a hole.
snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)If the troops are needed I suppose they're necessary. A temporary halt just makes sense to me.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)What happens when you abandon science and embrace fear even as science proves the fear is irrational?
The ease with which the America media creates and sustains that fear is equally disturbing.
ecstatic
(32,773 posts)In one corner you have the CDC making assurances with 100% certainty based on old information; then you have other Ebola researchers /experts citing new research to the contrary.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)PADemD
(4,482 posts)Warning - Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel Alert
Updated: October 07, 2014
CDC urges all US residents to avoid nonessential travel to Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone because of unprecedented outbreaks of Ebola in those countries. CDC recommends that travelers to these countries protect themselves by avoiding contact with the blood and body fluids of people who are sick with Ebola.
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/warning/ebola-liberia
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)ecstatic
(32,773 posts)This is NOT the time for Liberian Americans to be flying to Liberia to check on their relatives. If they went there and caught the virus then boarded one or more international flights back to the US, countless people from all over the world would be exposed. I have relatives in South America, I wouldn't check on them during an outbreak. That's just selfish.
And, I don't have a problem with a selective travel ban.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Or do they all need to fly United to get there?
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)I doubt that's the case this time, but the military often uses contract flights to fly troops. It's been the case for years.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I strongly doubt that's how the 3K troops are getting in. It's an inane argument against an eminently logical and defensible proposition, namely the halting of non-essential visa travel by people from those 3 countries, to this one.
Borders all over Africa are closed. Liberia has closed some of their own borders voluntarily. I'm not sure why it makes us terrible to temporarily do the same thing. Accommodations can be made for both military flights and humanitarian aid, while still restricting travelers from the heavily hit Ebola countries from coming to the US for the time being.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)I missed the news about the second case. Where is it?
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)I just realized you must be talking about the reporter - I was thinking about two cases identified here.