Marines ordered to disarm before Panetta visit

I am sorry but here is where I draw the line. We are going to disarm our personnel so the Sec/Def can feel more at ease on his visit to a combat zone in Afghanistan? T\If that's the case, then we need to get the hell out of that shit hole of a country and every swinging ass in uniform needs to come home and walk away as soon as their enlistment is up. Meanwhile, let Obama and Panetta and the rest of that gang of rogues see if they can get the Panthers and others to take up the slack.

I think we need Black Panthers and The Fruit of Islam and those in ACORN and such to step forward and make these minions feel safe when they tour the world.

Told to leave their weapons outside

In a sign of the nervousness surrounding the trip, a sergeant major abruptly told the Marines gathered to hear Mr. Panetta in a tent at Camp Leatherneck to get up, place their M-16 and M-4 automatic rifles and 9-millimeter pistols outside, and return unarmed. The sergeant major, Brandon Hall, told reporters that he was acting on orders.

“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 when the defense secretary visits and speaks to them. The Afghans in the tent had not been armed to begin with, as is typical.

Later, American officials said that the top military official in Helmand, Maj. Gen. Mark Gurganus, had decided on Tuesday that no one would be armed while Mr. Panetta spoke, but that word had not reached those in charge in the tent until shortly before Mr. Panetta was due to arrive.

General Gurganus told reporters later that he had wanted a consistent policy for everyone in the tent, and that “I wanted to have the Marines look just like their Afghan partners,” noting, “You’ve got one of the most important people in the world in the room.” He insisted that his decision had had nothing to do with the massacre; later, defense officials said the decision had had nothing to do with the truck at the airfield.

In his remarks to the Marines, Mr. Panetta vowed to not allow the Kandahar killings to accelerate the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. “We will be challenged by our enemies. We will be challenged by ourselves. We will be challenged by the hell of war itself,” he said.