Damn Shame…Troops Told To Disarm
I don’t know who got nervous, but I would say it is pretty telling when the Secretary of Defense does not trust 200 of his own troops, makes them disarm before he speaks to them.
Like I said, it may be time to get out now before someone else in the Obama Administration embarrasses us to the world. Again.
Update: You would think he would want our boys locked and loaded for just this kind of scenario.
In a sign of the nervousness surrounding Mr. Panetta’s trip, the Marines and other troops who were waiting in a tent for the defense secretary to speak were abruptly asked by their commander to get up, place their weapons — M-16 and M-4 automatic rifles and 9-mm pistols — outside the tent and then return unarmed. The commander, Sgt. Maj. Brandon Hall, told reporters he was acting on orders from superiors.
“All I know is, I was told to get the weapons out,” he said. Asked why, he replied, “Somebody got itchy, that’s all I’ve got to say. Somebody got itchy; we just adjust.”
Normally, American forces in Afghanistan keep their weapons with them when the defense secretary visits and speaks to them. The Afghans in the tent waiting for Mr. Panetta were not armed to begin with, as is typical.