Saturday, February 09, 2008

Mayor kicks Marines out of Toledo

You should just shoot him.

Mayor Carty Finkbeiner on Friday ordered some 200 members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines from Grand Rapids, Michigan, out of Toledo just before the unit was suppose to start a weekend of urban warfare training downtown.

I guess the "I Support The Troops" fad is over.

The mayor’s spokesperson Brian Schwartz said, “the mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people. He did not want them practicing and drilling in a highly visible area."

We don't want to see what you do, we just want to read about it through a bias opinion-piece in the papers.

Toledo police said they knew about the training and had approved the unit’s use of the Madison Building and the Promenade Park area. The training was scheduled to start Friday afternoon and last until Sunday. Police said the unit’s presence would have a minimal impact on the city. Police issued a press release earlier in the week saying the marines would be wearing green camouflage uniforms, operate military vehicles, carry rifles, perform foot patrols, and fire blank ammunitiion during the exercise.

I'm all for allowing the troops of our nation to practice wherever they like. I fear sometimes that the populations displeasure with an un-popular war (which is an oxymoron by the way cause since when was war popular?) and decisions by our administration leads to a mislead aggression against the troops that put their lives on the line to protect and serve our country.

NBC24 spoke to Jack Smith who recalled that after the marines last visit, he and the mayor had a heated exchange about the training. “He told me he did not want them, as he put it, 'playing war in Toledo,'" Smith recalled. "I told him, as a former marine, that if one young marine’s life is saved because of training he or she received in Toledo, Ohio, then it was worth the inconvenience.”

Nothing's more "inconvenient" than dropping your daily life, flying halfway around the globe to get shot at. Think maybe the nice people of Toledo could stand a few fucking detours for a weekend?

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