No, this is not a diary about yet another round of Swift Boat attacks against a fighting Dem. This is about the Navy, and how they are putting together the same type of fighting boat forces that were the Swift Boats in Vietnam.
From the Virginian Pilot:
http://home.hamptonroads.com/...
At this time next year, about 200 sailors will fill up small boats, man .50-caliber machine guns and watch for trouble along the waterways of Baghdad.
snip
The Navy has not seen this type of action since the Vietnam War, so it is calling river veterans, the Marine Corps and the special warfare community for advice. The chosen sailors will undergo eight months of training, including combat first aid and grunt infantry at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
It's a brave new world - and in one year, they'll be in Iraq.
The riverine force is part of the Navy's effort to become a bigger player in global efforts against terrorists and insurgents. Policing and protecting the shallow brown and green waters in hot spots now is the responsibility of the Marine Corps and special forces.
Apparently, the Army has already been doing boat patrols, detailed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/...
But one has to wonder how after all of those Swift Boat stories from 2004, that EVERYTHING we did in Vietnam is beginning to repeat itself. The second thing this tells us is just how long our government expects us to stay in Iraq. This operation will not be ready for A YEAR!! The last thing it is telling us is that more of the body bags coming home will be Navy.