Respectfully, the military has many doctors, nurses, technicians, etc. The military has the capabilities to set up what is known as *MASH* units and they can be more of a "well oiled machine" in the way that they operate. Their organizational capabilities can be much more than separate NGOs imho. I am glad that they are going to be dispatched in a humanitarian effort, which in the end, could be protecting the US citizens more by helping to curtail the spread. :moo:
If President Obama is serious about stopping the spread of Ebola, then he needs to start by sealing our borders and prevent people from simply walking across into our country. My son's friend was diagnosed with leishmaniasis, an intercellular protozoan parasite caused disease found in foreign countries. The woman, an American citizen, had not been outside the U.S. The only cases I was able to find in our area were in illegal immigrants, who abound here, treated at a local hospital. The Department of Health does not track this disease, to the surprise of a DoH manager, nor many other foreign diseases that typically are not found here. Why aren't these foreign diseases being tracked? Even the DoH manager did not know. Could it possibly be because the general public would become alarmed at the invasion of diseases? Environmentalists get up in arms over invasive species. Where's the outrage over these invaders, humans transporting microscopic species? Heaven forbid, if someone might make an association between the foreign diseases and illegal aliens! Could anyone, other than a racist, find that correlation?
Any border patrol agent can tell you that the people crossing illegally aren't only from Mexico. Many countries are represented. Some illegals are Middle Eastern Muslims, others Africans. Does anyone really believe Ebola can't walk across our southern border the same way leishmaniasis did? How long until a jihadist decides to deliberately infect himself and bring it here? In October, 2014, Hajj will draw thousands of muslims to Mecca from Africa. The Middle East is ripe for the next major outbreak. Are we then expected to send troops there?
Anyone who believes we have a low chance of an epidemic happening here needs to rethink their beliefs. If you lived in Africa, knew you had been exposed to the disease, could afford to go to the United States, and knew the medical care in the United States surpassed all others, wouldn't you tell a lie to jump on a plane and get here before you became symptomatic?
And, this nonsense of people not being contagious until they are symptomatic... really? What about ten minutes before they are symptomatic? How safe would you feel knowing you kissed someone just before they became symptomatic? What about twenty minutes? An hour? A day? Why not tell people the truth? The truth is that a person who has contracted the virus can theoretically pass the virus given the right set of circumstances. The chance of passing the virus corresponds to the virus load and increases as the person approaches having symptoms. When a person is symptomatic, they are highly contagious, shedding the virus in all bodily fluids.
Regarding sending 3000 troops to Africa. That is NOT the mission of the military. The military is supposed to be for combat and defense. Humanitarian efforts are usually limited to areas of active conflict. So far, I haven't heard about volunteers. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) We are now going to send thousands of our people to areas, some of which have been safe harbors for terrorists who attacked us, because they are sick? What I find extremely irritating is that these countries had money to build hospitals and emergency health centers. But far too often, the money is in the hands of the corrupt politicians. And now, we are going to give them more of our resources, when our own health care system is in financial shambles?
This is where basic morality stories come into play. Do you recall the story of the grasshopper and the ant? The ant worked hard and had wealth. Shouldn't the "wealthy" U.S. come to the aid of foreign countries? The U.S. government donates around $50 Billion dollars
every year to foreign countries. Add to that another $71 Billion+ from private donations. Some of the leaders and politicians (grasshoppers) of the third world countries lined their personal pockets, instead of building hospitals, clinics, and schools for their people. Now, in a crisis, we, the United States, are expected to bail them out? Don't get me wrong, I have compassion for the citizens in the affected countries. The photo of the little girl splayed out on the sidewalk, with nobody comforting her, is saddening and disturbing. Chances are she will die. She is a child of the grasshopper. At what point do the governments of these countries start to take responsibility for their decisions?
There are many aide organizations who willingly put themselves in danger. We are better off giving certain private organizations the resources to teach the people in the affected areas what needs to be done. The people that go must be volunteers. Our military people did not sign up to be sacrificial lambs at the altar of political humanitarianism or public opinion.
We should not let this humanitarian crisis be used for political gain. IMO, sending in our military people is not the thing to do. If they insist on doing so, everyone that goes should be a volunteer. This is just my opinion.