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Subscribe to RSSA U.S. military plane that ferried some U.S. citizens out of Cairo today had actually been sent in to Egypt to deliver additional security for the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube report.
(Details of today's flights: World Blog: How many Americans are in Egypt?)
The plane brought in the 10 to 12 Marines to augment the security force already in Cairo. Rather than let it leave the country empty, the U.S. military agreed to fill the plane with U.S. citizens trying to leave the country. The flight took the Americans to Larnaca, Cyprus.
The State Department has also sent in additional agents of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security to help with security needs in Cairo.
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Just 2 squads of Marines? Either evacuate the embassy or send in enough Marines to really defend it. I don't know how many we have there now, but just 12 does not sound like a large reenforcement.
Marines are professionals, not local police. They are more than adequate.
Like the Texas Rangers. One Riot, one Ranger.
Actually it is probably one squad from the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team usually made up of 13 members. They can be pretty quickly reinforced with the rest of the FAST Platoon, or with a reaction force from the 26th MEU.
Semper Fi.....