Marine Corps Propaganda going full tilt. 26th MEU was prepared to enter Syria.

via US News.

An expeditionary Marine unit was ready to execute rescue missions in and around Syria this summer at a time when the world waited for President Barack Obama to follow through on threats he would attack the war-torn nation.
Syria was at the top of the agenda for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit leading up to its departure in early March for an 8-month deployment in and around the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It proved to be a busy summer for the Marine Corps and Navy group, amid ongoing strife in that country's civil war, as well as heightened threat levels in nearby Egypt, the anniversary of the 2012 Benghazi attacks and planned military exercises in neighboring Jordan.
"When we left, we thought we'd be involved in Syria in terms of humanitarian assistance," said Navy Capt. Jim Cody on Thursday. "The refugee crisis was spilling into all the neighboring countries."

This is a non-story.  Anyone that pays attention to military matters knew this.  So the question becomes.

Why does the Marine Corps propaganda machine put this story out now?

I have a few ideas....

1.  The Inspector General is due to come out with a report concerning the Commandant's command influence charge.
2.  Budget cuts are going to be more severe than anticipated.  The Marine Corps is trying to show its utility to as wide an audience as possible.
3.  The draw down is going to be even more severe than reported.  The Senate approved a plan to accelerate it and its obvious that it has Pentagon support.

Either way, I've become suspicious of this Commandant's HQ.  Something is brewing.  I just don't know what.

Note:  I'm going to send the writer of this piece an e-mail to find out why he ran with an obvious puff piece.  I hope he answers.  If it is as I suspect and it was fed to him then my suspicions are confirmed.  If he dug it up to fill space then I'm glad I took US News off my daily read list.