Above you see the USNS Mercy. Simple question. If Ebola is not the issue that I believe it to be then why aren't we seeing them activated for the mission in West Africa?
How could it help? You would get 1000 medical beds as soon as it arrived on scene. You would get almost a battalions worth of medical personnel when it pulled into dock.
Instead we have the 101st Airborne being tasked. Why? Simple. Because the real threat is that these countries are on the verge of falling apart. Ebola is a killer but the old ones are coming around the corner. Famine. Crops are failing and when you can't farm, people turn to bushmeat. That simply means they're going to go out hunting wildlife. That means Ebola is going to spread even more (bushmeat is suspected as the source of this disease). Mass migration. People are going to move when they sense that the danger is out of control. That means that people will cross borders which will further spread the contagion. Last is what we're seeing now but no one is talking about. The break down of social order.
What I would like to know is what the contingency plans are.
How is one Air Assault Division (even if we get the entire Division there...planning so far is to send a Brigade along with Division Headquarters) going to maintain order in 3 failed African states...while at the same time delivering medical support/aid...while at the same time protecting Air Assault Troopers against disease!
