I have to admit... I've looked at this with a rather jaundiced eye... as a retired Army officer I take some exception with the USMC approach/insistence on being a world unto themselves... I think service-oriented perspectives have their place, but this simply stinks of another USMC ploy (nicest turn of phrase I could conjure) to carve out a limited objective, declare victory unto itself (even if Helmond becomes a restive paradise). If the rest of the country goes to hell who gives a rat's a$$...

I never thought I'd say this, but I think the USMC is starting to rival the USAF as working the hardest (institutionally) to be their own self-licking ice cream cone...

This is not a conclusion that gives me pleasure or for the sake of my own pride in having served in the big green machine