by Clifford F. Thies

Backing up his promise that "Not one American boot could touch one grain of Libyan sand", President Obama has ordered 4,000 Marines and sailors of the Bataan Amphibious Group and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit into the region.

That's 8,000 boots, which is definitely "not one". Let's face, you're not going to win a war sending in one cripple.

The USS Bataan is an amphibious assault ship, with a wide range of capabilities, humanitarian and military. When deployed along with super carriers, it will usually assume the status of an auxiliary carrier, launching and receiving helipcopters in conjunction with submarine patrol and search and rescure missions. It can also operate on its own, in support of projection of force missions, in which case it may launch and receive harrier warplanes as well as helicopters.

The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is a multi-deminensional force consisting of a reinforced battalion of marines, a combat airlift unit. and a combat support unit.

When these units join the force being assembled in the Mediterranean, they will give the commander the capability to conduct seach and rescue missions, as in the case of a downed pilot, as well as a limited ability to secure a beachead or an inland objective.