Let Obama and CDC do their jobs on Ebola

(REAL CLEAR POLITICS)

By Joe Conason

If the prospect of hanging concentrates the mind, then even the possibility of infection with Ebola should do the same -- for all of us. Instead, we seem easily distracted by attempts to blame President Barack Obama and to scapegoat the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Republican politicians and media loudmouths have even demanded the resignation of Dr. Thomas Frieden, the CDC's director, because he's refused to endorse a West African travel ban.

They're all dead wrong.

First, Obama is following precisely the correct approach in addressing the outbreak with his order to dispatch American troops to Liberia. The men and women of the medical corps can swiftly set up emergency tented facilities in every Liberian county while security personnel begin to restore order and prevent panicked destruction.

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The president didn't foresee this outbreak, but neither did anyone else, principally because every earlier Ebola outbreak had been contained within a few rural villages. His order to send troops isn't popular; nobody likes the idea of sending our troops into danger. He made a difficult choice, but it was a wise one. (Our British and French allies have agreed to do the same in Sierra Leone and Guinea, respectively.)

Why are the unique characteristics and large scale of the U.S. military so vital now? Simply because no other force can adequately handle the logistical and safety requirements of this chaotic, perilous undertaking in West Africa.

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