NEW YORK – President Obama's decision to send 3,000 troops to Liberia to combat Ebola demonstrates he is confused about the meaning of national security, charges a prominent military-policy specialist.
"I'm just appalled," said Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness.
"Judging from this, the president of the United States seems to have a very confused vision of what 'national security' means," she said.
Donnelly said there is no question the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is a horrible "scourge on the face of the earth."
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"But whether 3,000 American troops should be sent into that area of the world to deal with that problem, I do not see the justification," she said. "Surely there are alternatives in the international health care networks."
As WND reported, retired Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin has charged that sending American troops to combat Ebola in Liberia is "an absolute misuse of the U.S. military."
Donnelly emphasized it's "not the purpose of our military."
"I am very disappointed to see this announcement," she said.
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger appointed Donnelly to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services for a three-year term from 1984 through 1986. Then, in 1992, President George H. W. Bush appointed her to the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces.
Donnelly explained to WND her concern that the U.S. military is not designed to fight health wars.
"Our military people will show compassion in Liberia, as they always do, and they will do everything asked of them," she said.
"Still, health wars are unhealthy for soldiers and all living things. Like oxymoronic 'peace wars,' such as the incursion into Bosnia, deployments such as this put our troops in causes having little impact on America's national security," she said.
Families at risk
American military families will be put at greater risk, Donnelly said.
"Here we have a 'health war' that could cost our troops' health."
She also expressed concern that with recent cutbacks, the military will be stretched dangerously thin to fulfill a new mission combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria while simultaneously fighting Ebola in West Africa.
"The demands on our military are very great right now, especially with what is going on with ISIS," she noted.
But she insisted there "would not be a good time at any time to do this sort of thing."
"This is not the purpose of our military," she said. "I think we ought to consider morale in the armed forces, the effect on our men and women in uniform who volunteered to serve. I am concerned this decision will affect recruitment and retention – everything it takes to make an all-volunteer force strong."
She elaborated on the health risk.
"Our troops sent to Liberia will be in danger of contracting the disease because our troops are eager to help and have good intentions entering a crisis," she said.
"But our troops will be at risk if they don't have the type of hazardous-material equipment protections we see when one doctor infected with Ebola is brought back from West Africa to a hospital within the United States. And if the troops become infected, there is risk not only to the soldiers, but also to their families when they return to the United States. This seems to me to be a risk that is not justified, and I think the president should reconsider."
'Mission too far'
Several times in the interview, Donnelly expressed concern that Obama made the decision casually, without fully thinking through the implications.
"This is a mission too far," she stressed.
She noted the Veterans Administration is struggling already.
"How is the VA going to take on new health risks from fighting Ebola, including new forms of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome our soldiers our going to incur fighting a deadly disease in a country where the people live in abject poverty?" she asked.
As the interview concluded, Donnelly returned to her concerns about morale.
"We have an all-volunteer force, and this action will be demoralizing to our troops," she stressed.
"Vertical cohesion – the bond of trust between the commander-in-chief and the troops that the president leads – is at risk her," Donnelly said.
"The troops will serve the commander-in-chief because they are selfless by nature and they want to serve their country. But there comes a point where vertical cohesion breaks down, and fighting Ebola in West Africa may be just what it takes to push an all-volunteer force to the breaking point, especially when the U.S. military is stretched thin, as it is today."