Obama declares war on Ebola! 3,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers head to Liberia

Thousands of U.S. troops will arrive in the West African nation of Liberia as part of President Barack Obama's response to the Ebola outbreak that is wreaking havoc in the region.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "U.S. Africa Command will set up a Joint Force Command headquartered in Monrovia, Liberia, to provide regional command and control support to U.S. military activities and facilitate coordination with U.S. government and international relief efforts," a statement from the White House revealed.

Your brothers and sisters in Africa need help in this dark time!

"A general from U.S. Army Africa, the Army component of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), will lead this effort, which will involve an estimated 3,000 U.S. forces."

Of the four West African nations that are part of the epidemic, Liberia is the hardest-hit hit, accounting for one-half of the Ebola related fatalities. Sierra Leone and Guinea are also suffering, but Nigeria has managed to control the outbreak somewhat.

What American military personnel will do in Liberia is still unclear. The White House said that many of them will be stationed at an "intermediate staging base" where they will be able to supervise the movement of medical staff, supplies and heavy equipment.

AFRICOM is already warning personnel that they should "avoid nonessential travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia."

U.S. soldiers and Marines "will be on hand and ready for anything," said an anonymous official, who has knowledge of some, but not all, of the Ebola-related planning. "But hopefully it will be all logistics and hospital-building."

"The president has ordered us to help, and we're eager to do it," he continued. "Now it looks like we're going to be the lead dog, and that's bound to make a lot of people nervous. It's understandable."

"But no one wants U.S. personnel enforcing someone else's martial law if things go south and the entire region is at risk."

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