Ebola in the US

[MikeGER]

All air travel since there is no way to enforce a specific regional air travel ban on all airline/private planes especially with countries which have porous borders like these.

Con

that is not a black and white situation  ...its grey, its analog 
a reduction by just caneling all flights from the 3 most affected countires reduce the risk, not eliminate the risk for a spread to other continents, which buys us the time to invent, test, and mass-prodcue a vaccine

forcing travelers from those 3 countries to take the land route to the next international airport in the neighbouring country, if those are even allowed to pass over the border (otherwise even have to take more time to sneak over that porous borders) give the necessary delay that those who may carry the virus start throwing symptoms, and are not able to travel or don't make it through fever screenings on the airports.

of course still someone dedicate to the task and with the luck of a prolonged time until symptoms show up, still has a chance to do a several days overland journey through 'half of Africa' to board a plane unscreened ...maybe in Egypt or South Africa and with a stopover in some European air-cross even make it to the USA and elsewhere finally but the numbers will be extremely slim compared to whats possible now.

in a few week, when the exponential function does its thing, and the shit really hit the fan, everybody from that area with the pocketmoney will flee the region...   
   

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

100s of US troops going to Liberia?
http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/10/26/thousands-more-us-troops-to-join-liberia?videoId=346701015&videoChannel=1

That kind of creeps me out. They are going to return at some point, many to big cities. So I have to say WTF?

That seems like a mission for Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, etc. NATO troops have enough on their hands without being thrown into that mess.

[LongBlade]

100s of US troops going to Liberia?
http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/10/26/thousands-more-us-troops-to-join-liberia?videoId=346701015&videoChannel=1

That kind of creeps me out. They are going to return at some point, many to big cities. So I have to say WTF?

That seems like a mission for Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, etc. NATO troops have enough on their hands without being thrown into that mess.

In theory the US military should have world class troops able to operate in a bio-weapon environment. This is great training for the real deal. Hopefully nobody will get hurt.

[LongBlade]

No panic allowed. I will go shotgun shopping though.

Some advice, so long as you're looking: http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/14/home-defense-shotgun-myths-and-reality/

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

1000s of US troops going to Liberia?
http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/10/26/thousands-more-us-troops-to-join-liberia?videoId=346701015&videoChannel=1

That kind of creeps me out. They are going to return at some point, many to big cities. So I have to say WTF?

That seems like a mission for Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, etc. NATO troops have enough on their hands without being thrown into that mess.

In theory the US military should have world class troops able to operate in a bio-weapon environment. This is great training for the real deal. Hopefully nobody will get hurt.

Its unnecessary to take the risk for training. They could setup a controlled test with a mild cold or flu. It strikes me that this can go badly wrong for an area with no strategic value.

What is the accountability if they come back to get 1000s of civilians infected? "It seemed like a good idea at the time." is not going to cut it.

[Con]

Tests for Ebola are happening rather fast so detection, quarantining and treatment will be much easier with military personnel then civilians where while it can be mandatory there is a good deal of non compliance

Just like in warfare the best defense is a good offense which means stamping out Ebola at the source to protect the homeland

Con

[LongBlade]

Tests for Ebola are happening rather fast so detection, quarantining and treatment will be much easier with military personnel then civilians where while it can be mandatory there is a good deal of non compliance

Just like in warfare the best defense is a good offense which means stamping out Ebola at the source to protect the homeland

Con

I'm with Con here - if we don't use it as training (though I guarantee there will be benefits and lessons learned), then think of it as deploying our very best. If the military can't operate in these conditions, no one can.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

There is certainly a lot of merit to Con's position. I still don't see it as a military operation. The military is already straining under it's budget. It has genuine defense uses for the resources that will be diverted. This is to some degree a political operation for the goodwill of the black community.

There is expediency with the use of troops that have to follow orders. There is no real accountability if things go to hell. Maybe we need to think about centralization of power. Many times in America there seems to be distrust of government overreach into areas that they are not tasked for. That often goes out the window when it is a use of troops. Well, we have to support the troops. Maybe it is not required that more power be centralized by calling everything a military operation. These other organizations, many non-profit, that are all about solving this type of issue, get "votes" with dollars. People donate, in a wholesome democratic fashion, to these organizations. When the government takes over these tasks, there is no option. The taxpayer has to pay.

Do we want more coercive use of the economy or a more democratic economy?

[JasonPratt]

There is certainly a lot of merit to Con's position. I still don't see it as a military operation. The military is already straining under it's budget. It has genuine defense uses for the resources that will be diverted. This is to some degree a political operation for the goodwill of the black community.

Until the bullets start flying, of course.

And what are the odds of that NOT happening in this situation?

Are they meant to lend security to assets in-country? Maybe the mission is different than the vagury it seems on the surface...

In other news, I have no idea how to make "vague" an adverb.  :))

[GDS_Starfury]

No worries.  I gave up on context, grammar and sentence structure years ago.   :))

[mirth]

I gave up on context, grammar and sentence structure years ago.   :))

You forgot sex with a woman.

[endfire79]

My wife and some friends remembered the SARS outbreak in China years ago.  Also started amongst infected animals that it to markets and spread. Like Ebola I guess SARS could come back if unchecked.

Lots of african nationals in Guangzhou nowadays, I hope ebola carriers don't spread there.

[Gusington]

What is the primary mission of the US troops being deployed to Africa?

[Airborne Rifles]

There's an aviation unit from my last post that's going over to do medical transport.

[Gusington]

Some unlucky SOB will have to clean out those transports :/