corrente

No, it's not something from Cheney's Word of the Day Desk Calendar.

I have no idea what this story means. But they're taking a batch of reservists, Marines, some of whom have already been deployed to the qWagmire once, and shipping them the hell off to Djibouti. Oil? WMD? Halliburton have something there that needs protecting?

And catch the part about a tank battalion, going to provide security, but not taking their tanks along. This one's been way far under the radar, whatever it is.

(via The State (Columbia SC))

The couple, married two weeks, said farewell Tuesday for what could be several months as 73 Marine reservists left Eastover on the first leg of a trip that will take them to the Persian Gulf region.

The part-time Leathernecks, members of Delta Company, 8th Tank Battalion, will spend the next three weeks in training. They will then head for Dijibouti, a tiny desert nation in the Horn of Africa that is half the size of South Carolina.

Dijibouti is home to Camp Lemonier, a former French Foreign Legion outpost now used by U.S. forces for anti-terrorism.

Delta Company is joining about 3,000 other reservists and National Guardsmen from South Carolina who are on active duty fighting the war on terrorism.

Bracewell, 33, a 10-year veteran of the Marines, fought with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force during the opening months of the Iraq war. He had to say goodbye again to his wife and 7-year-old son who are at home in Atlanta.

Delta Company will be providing security at Lemonier. That means they had to leave behind their M1A1 Abrams tanks.

“That’s the tough part because the tanks are our comfort zone,” said Gunnery Sgt. Roger Conrad, 43, of Seneca.