I see we now have the "War on Diseases"

Egginacup

3000 US troops to be planted (most likely with guns and helicopters) in Liberia to "fight" Ebola.

:pac:

Autonomous

Has ebola coverted to Islam?

whupdedo

Does liberia have oil, we wouldnt want the oil to catch ebola now would we

dxhound2005

Nothing new. I see there is a War on Malaria and a Fight against Cancer.

fleet_admiral

Moyes should have bought him last season to solve his woes

Tail Docker

We're here to liberia-ate ye, from the sick. Better to die by a good, clean US of A bullet than some virus. Possibly.

BMJD

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Moyes should have bought him last season to solve his woes

Ye what

dxhound2005

The Voice of America.

http://www.voanews.com/content/us-sending-troops-to-liberia-expanded-ebola-effort/2451118.html

Under the U.S. plan, 3,000 U.S. troops will be sent to a new command center in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, to help with the transportation of supplies and other personnel.

U.S. forces will construct 17 health care facilities of 100 beds each to isolate and treat victims. The U.S. mission will also set up a facility to train 500 health care workers per week.


If that fails they probably will start a shooting war and start drilling for oil.

ceadaoin.

The U.S. military will deploy about 3,000 personnel to West Africa to coordinate international aid, build treatment centers and train health-care workers as part of President Barack Obama's offensive against a rapidly worsening Ebola outbreak, a senior administration official said Monday.

Sounds like a good thing to me. The WHO has already said that this type of action is needed to stop the spread of the disease which has been described as out of control in Liberia. If the US want to make sure ebola doesn't land on their doorstep then this is what has to be done. Good job they are stepping up tbh because no one else seems to care too much about it.

FloatingVoter

If they declare war on Alcoholics (cos that's a disease and I'm wobbling by that) then we are armed, drunk and angry. We also have infiltrated the highest levels of the land. Any land.

WakeUp

ebola has gone exponential in Liberia anyways. the predictive models of future case rates some of the scientists have come out with are scary. even if they are just 10% accurate. this outbreak is different there is something different about it this time. and its been underestimated. more than most Im the first to give the US army stick and what not but in this instance fair play to them. but it isnt enough more needs to be done. this could take years to get under control even the WHO figures predict 20,000 fatalities before this has run its course. I reckon that might be an optimistic number. without wanting or needing to push the panic button we certainly need to watch this closely.

Rucking_Fetard

WakeUp wrote: »

ebola has gone exponential in Liberia anyways. the predictive models of future case rates some of the scientists have come out with are scary. even if they are just 10% accurate. this outbreak is different there is something different about it this time. and its been underestimated. more than most Im the first to give the US army stick and what not but in this instance fair play to them. but it isnt enough more needs to be done. this could take years to get under control even the WHO figures predict 20,000 fatalities before this has run its course. I reckon that might be an optimistic number. without wanting or needing to push the panic button we certainly need to watch this closely.

In a worst-case hypothetical scenario, should the outbreak continue with recent trends, the case burden could gain an additional 77,181 to 277,124 cases by the end of 2014.

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control


Will the Ebola virus go airborne?

My name is URL

It's not even funny. US leaders are literally calling for a 'war' on ebola

"President Barack Obama on Tuesday called West Africa's deadly Ebola outbreak a looming threat to global security and announced a major expansion of the U.S. role in trying to halt its spread, including deployment of 3,000 troops to the region.

"The reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better,"

The epidemic of the 'muricans involving their troops in absolutely everything they fcuking do presumably.

• football game in Croke Park - get two fighter-jets from Germany to do a flyover (at a cost of?)
  
  
• be a veteran of war and get a bad infection in a US hospital without the proper insurance and you'd be charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for treatment and probably counter-sued for costs

What are these 3000 troops going to be doing anyway? Patrol the borders of other countries.. limiting movement of those they see as suspicious? How very thoughtful of them all :rolleyes:

Turtwig

Too little too late.

Having just American troops on the ground sends the wrong message. The indigenous population are superstitious and scared as it is, last thing they need is a foreign military presence. Either all countries armies go or none. People are far too paranoid at the moment.

dxhound2005

My name is URL wrote: »

What are these 3000 troops going to be doing anyway? Patrol the borders of other countries.. limiting movement of those they see as suspicious? How very thoughtful of them all :rolleyes:

How very inventive of you to make up all that.

Lapin

My name is URL wrote: »

[*]football game in Croke Park - get two fighter-jets from Germany to do a flyover (at a cost of?)

Yeah that was a poor decision.

A dozen F-16s would have been a hell of a lot better !

My name is URL

dxhound2005 wrote: »

How very inventive of you to make up all that.

G'wan so, Zacchaeus.

What'll they be at over there..? Taking swabs and giving people sponge-baths?

Turtwig

I'd suspect medical logistics and construction of medical camps. Doubt they'd be used as quarantine troops. (That's just asking for US enemies to "get" them to open fire on civilians. )

dxhound2005

My name is URL wrote: »

G'wan so, Zacchaeus.

What'll they be at over there..? Taking swabs and giving people sponge-baths?

G'wan and read the part of the thread before your own brilliant input. It's not very long.

ceadaoin.

My name is URL wrote: »

G'wan so, Zacchaeus.

What'll they be at over there..? Taking swabs and giving people sponge-baths?

Have you looked into this at all? There are many articles online stating exactly what they will be doing or it has been said in this thread too if you just read the previous one page. Here is a quote for you

The White House said the troops will not be responsible for direct patient care. Amid concern about infections, Obama said the "safety of our personnel will remain a top priority."

Obama's plan calls for sending 3,000 troops, including engineers and medical personnel; establishing a regional command and control center in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, commanded by Major General Darryl Williams, who arrived there on Tuesday; and forming a staging area in Senegal to help distribute personnel and aid on the ground.

It also calls for building 17 treatment centers with 100 beds each; placing U.S. Public Health Service personnel in new field hospitals in Liberia; training thousands of healthcare workers for six months or longer; and creating an "air bridge" to get health workers and medical supplies into West Africa more quickly.

Tail Docker

Then 200 US troops come back to the states with ebola..and it spreads...

Akrasia

This is exactly the kind of thing that the Military and civil defence forces should be doing.

There is a crisis in Liberia that they do not have adequate resources to deal with themselves. Their medical crisis has global implications so the U.S. sending in assistance to build emergency medical treatment centres is an excellent development.

Can the conspiracy theory loonies please step away from the keyboard? The Paranoid CT bullsh1t (as well as local superstitious nonsense) is actually costing lives and assisting with the spread of this disease.

There are people refusing to present for treatment who have symptoms of the disease because they have been convinced that the authorities are not to be trusted.

ceadaoin.

Akrasia wrote: »

This is exactly the kind of thing that the Military and civil defence forces should be doing.

There is a crisis in Liberia that they do not have adequate resources to deal with themselves. Their medical crisis has global implications so the U.S. sending in assistance to build emergency medical treatment centres is an excellent development.

Can the conspiracy theory loonies please step away from the keyboard? The Paranoid CT bullsh1t (as well as local superstitious nonsense) is actually costing lives and assisting with the spread of this disease.

There are people refusing to present for treatment who have symptoms of the disease because they have been convinced that the authorities are not to be trusted.

It's not just distrust of authority, many treatment centres are so poorly equipped that to go there means you probably will die. A lot of them are full anyway so the people that are going are being turned away to die in the streets which in turn leads to the disease spreading. This US aid is much needed and hopefully other countries will join and help to turn the tide.

I know people like to think that this won't affect developed countries. I thought that too when it was first being reported, but if you have been following the outbreak at all then it's obvious that it is a threat. Norovirus manages to infect thousands of people every year and that is spread in a similar fashion to ebola.

Grayson

Turtwig wrote: »

Too little too late.

Having just American troops on the ground sends the wrong message. The indigenous population are superstitious and scared as it is, last thing they need is a foreign military presence. Either all countries armies go or none. People are far too paranoid at the moment.

Thousands have been killed. To be fair, it's the best use of the US military I've seen in years. Beats the crap outta drone killing some shepherds.

And the locals are suspicious/superstitious anyway. That wasn't going to change with or without soldiers.

Remember some of these countries have near zero infrastructure. I think Liberia has a couple of hundred doctors for a population of millions. If the US military can get supplies to the needy then I'm all for it.

Grayson

ceadaoin. wrote: »

It's not just distrust of authority, many treatment centres are so poorly equipped that to go there means you probably will die. A lot of them are full anyway so the people that are going are being turned away to die in the streets which in turn leads to the disease spreading. This US aid is much needed and hopefully other countries will join and help to turn the tide.

I know people like to think that this won't affect developed countries. I thought that too when it was first being reported, but if you have been following the outbreak at all then it's obvious that it is a threat. Norovirus manages to infect thousands of people every year and that is spread in a similar fashion to ebola.

Plus there's always the danger of it mutating and becoming airborne. The risk is very small, but it gets bigger with each infection.

Dyr

Lapin wrote: »

Yeah that was a poor decision.

A dozen F-16s would have been a hell of a lot better !

Nuke it from orbit, its the only way to be sure

SeanW

Egginacup wrote: »

3000 US troops to be planted (most likely with guns and helicopters) in Liberia to "fight" Ebola.

:pac:

If you believe there is something else going on, why did you not start this thread in Conspiracy Theories?

Fratton Fred

My name is URL wrote: »

It's not even funny. US leaders are literally calling for a 'war' on ebola



The epidemic of the 'muricans involving their troops in absolutely everything they fcuking do presumably.

• football game in Croke Park - get two fighter-jets from Germany to do a flyover (at a cost of?)
  
  
• be a veteran of war and get a bad infection in a US hospital without the proper insurance and you'd be charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for treatment and probably counter-sued for costs

What are these 3000 troops going to be doing anyway? Patrol the borders of other countries.. limiting movement of those they see as suspicious? How very thoughtful of them all :rolleyes:

You underestimate the sheer scale of the US military. They have possibly the largest logistics capability of any organisation on the planet. When it comes to building field hospitals, shelters and moving supplies in to the middle of nowhere, there is nothing on this planet that comes remotely close to the US military.

This is a good move, but as always with the US, it's a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Elmer Blooker

SeanW wrote: »

If you believe there is something else going on, why did you not start this thread in Conspiracy Theories?

The US only sends troops to places that are rich in resources, everyone knows that - that's not a conspiracy theory. Liberia is very rich in gold and diamonds.

Canis Lupus

Grayson wrote: »

Plus there's always the danger of it mutating and becoming airborne. The risk is very small, but it gets bigger with each infection.

No it won't. Stop watching Outbreak.

PucaMama

Canis Lupus wrote: »

No it won't. Stop watching Outbreak.

It's a virus it does have the potential to mutate whether people want to acknowledge it or not

sbsquarepants

My name is URL wrote: »

It's not even funny. US leaders are literally calling for a 'war' on ebola

:rolleyes:

It's fine - all their wars go perfectly to plan with no unforeseen consequences. Relax man:pac:

seamus

Akrasia wrote: »

This is exactly the kind of thing that the Military and civil defence forces should be doing.

+1, exactly what I thought when I heard of it this morning.

If the US really wants to make a difference to peace & stability around the world, it would be putting boots on the ground to aid in crises like this just as much, if not more than in civil or military conflicts.

In case anyone is wondering what the US military can actually do in this situation, it's exactly as Fratton Fred says. They have the largest and most efficient logistics operation on the planet.
Such as building fully-stocked medical facilities capable of treating thousands of patients, in a matter of days.

Sunnyisland

We also had a war on poverty,and the war on want and and U2 had an album called war it's all a load of war war to me.


We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,

blackwhite

My name is URL wrote: »

be a veteran of war and get a bad infection in a US hospital without the proper insurance and you'd be charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for treatment and probably counter-sued for costs

Amazing the lies that some people willingly spout to try and back up their hatred....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Veterans_Affairs_medical_facilities

Grayson

Canis Lupus wrote: »

No it won't. Stop watching Outbreak.

If no-one has it there's little chance of it changing. The more people who have it the greater the chance since there's more hosts.

Stop trying to appear smart.

creolebelle

My name is URL wrote: »

It's not even funny. US leaders are literally calling for a 'war' on ebola



The epidemic of the 'muricans involving their troops in absolutely everything they fcuking do presumably.

• football game in Croke Park - get two fighter-jets from Germany to do a flyover (at a cost of?)
  
  
• be a veteran of war and get a bad infection in a US hospital without the proper insurance and you'd be charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for treatment and probably counter-sued for costs

What are these 3000 troops going to be doing anyway? Patrol the borders of other countries.. limiting movement of those they see as suspicious? How very thoughtful of them all :rolleyes:

^thats not true. Veterans get feel healthcare over here but they have to go to a veterans hospital/clinic

SEPT 23 1989

Wiggum firing his gun at Monty Burns germs

topper75

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Moyes should have bought him last season to solve his woes

Yeaaaaaah Bill. Ebola has been absolutely fantastic for me all season. He's working for the team and creating chances up front and not afraid to backtrack when needs be. What a stunning striiiiiiike Bill! He hasn't half hit that has young Ebola.

sbsquarepants

Canis Lupus wrote: »

No it won't. Stop watching Outbreak.

Terrible film. That one with Kate Winslett, the one where she unexpectedly keeps her clothes on, was even worse.

I for one am sick and tired of a new virus coming to kill us every fúcking year. If it does, we would be entirely unable to cope anyway so why worry. The irish health system can't cope with sprained ankles and broken noses after a bank holiday weekend - airborne fúcking ebola - are you shítting me, it might as well be a zombie apocalypse and level 10 sharknado all rolled into one while there's snow on the roads and barely enough salt for a bag of chips.
If it does happen, the only thing that will save you is your own immune system - not captain America and his band of super heroes.

CrazyRabbit

Hmm...whenever the US goes to war, their enemy often comes out stronger and in greater numbers.

Ebola today...and then zombies in a few months!

On a more serious note, they should deliberately infect captured terrorists and then release them. They'll spread it to all their terrorist buddies.

Ok, perhaps that wasn't so serious.

twinytwo

Tail Docker wrote: »

Then 200 US troops come back to the states with ebola..and it spreads...

America isn't Ireland mate.... You think the troops won't be quarantined and tested before they come home?

Cookie_Monster

odd that the US have to have their hand forced on it though, the Chinese basically own much of the continent these days, why are they not in doing the work?

SeanW

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

The US only sends troops to places that are rich in resources, everyone knows that - that's not a conspiracy theory. Liberia is very rich in gold and diamonds.

I suppose Afghanistan also has lots of riches, as did Vietnam, Germany, Japan etc ...

creolebelle

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

odd that the US have to have their hand forced on it though, the Chinese basically own much of the continent these days, why are they not in doing the work?

Good point but Liberia does have historical ties with the US. It was a former American colony for freed black slaves

Rhys Essien

creolebelle wrote: »

Good point but Liberia does have historical ties with the US. It was a former American colony for freed black slaves

+1.

And Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is American educated and went to Harvard.She probably just asked her friend Obama for help.

oisinog

The US miliary is not all about soilders.

They also have doctors and medics who can help treat patients.

WHO probably has asked for help from the united nations and the us are the first to respond

LorMal

twinytwo wrote: »

America isn't Ireland mate.... You think the troops won't be quarantined and tested before they come home?

Dead right. They should also be tested for deafness. Our guys really suffer from that.....

Canis Lupus

Grayson wrote: »

If no-one has it there's little chance of it changing. The more people who have it the greater the chance since there's more hosts.

Stop trying to appear smart.

Millions of people suffer from HIV which also mutates. I don't hear you worrying about that going airborne. :rolleyes:

Drakares

Wow.. The States have dedicated millions of dollars and resources worth of help to a country where people are dying to a deadly disease, and still people find some downside to it because it's America... Amazing.

Egginacup

ceadaoin. wrote: »

Sounds like a good thing to me. The WHO has already said that this type of action is needed to stop the spread of the disease which has been described as out of control in Liberia. If the US want to make sure ebola doesn't land on their doorstep then this is what has to be done. Good job they are stepping up tbh because no one else seems to care too much about it.

Since Washington is ramping up its presence in Africa, what with Africom, etc., to control resources there, I find it rather far-fetched that there are no aid agencies the world over that can round up 3000 civilians with experience in driving a truck or carrying a damn crate of blankets or antibiotics.

If the US is so interested in helping out in this alleged crisis then why can't they send the Peace Corps or even the damn boyscouts for that matter?
Why does it have to be active duty soldiers who will of course be bringing weapons and munitions with them. And if your argument is that the US Army is the only organisation in the whole wide world with experience in shifting "supplies" from A to B then I cry "bollocks".

Even if this were true and their motives were altruistic then why not send ex-servicemen and pay them. There's plenty of ex-military personnel in the US who can't find a job