Everyone is doing a roll call of ship and plane movements. Well to be precise, everyone is paying attention to the press releases that the Pentagon is feeding the public. But what happens when we take a look at the ground forces that are in the region?
You might be surprised at a quick tally I did (most of this is from memory and confirmation is difficult...correct me where I'm wrong).
* 26th MEU(-) arrived off shore to join the battle group. A token force of 300 Marines aboard a San Antonio Class LPD. I find this an interesting choice. Definitely reduced troop compliment, if I were to guess you probably have the "Maritime Raid Force" with a Company Reinforced of Marines from the BLT to provide support. What other Special Operations personnel are on board is anyones guess.
* Patriot Missile Batteries along the Turkish border. I'm sure they've been reinforced with a grunt unit or two to provide security. This is also another opportunity for SOCOM to stage personnel.
* Last but definitely not least and possibly the best indicator of where this thing is going is the 1st Armored Division FWD that setup shop on the Jordanian border.
Still. Thats far from enough ground troops to deal with unforeseen circumstances.
Well Solomon..POTUS did say it was a symbolic attack, that could even mean a "SIMULATED" attack like they did to Iraq during Gulf war off the beaches that were showing all the signs of an IWO JIMA style feet wet invasion.
ReplyDeleteEnough smoke and mirrors with distractions could fool Assad into surrendering unconditionally.
Lame, I know.