Wednesday, November 18, 2015

A Novel Application Of The No Double Standard Policy

The WaPo reported yesterday that the U.S. military has banned troops from traveling to Paris on their free time due to security concerns:
The U.S. Defense Department has banned U.S. troops and employees from traveling in their free time within 50 kilometers of Paris, following the terrorist attacks in the French capital on Friday night.

The ban was put in place late Sunday by U.S. European Command. It applies to all military personnel, civilian employees, contractors and family members who are sponsored by a specific military command. Anyone who wants to travel to the area on official business or for emergency reasons must obtain approval from a general officer or other senior official in their chain of command.

According to EUCOM's website, the travel restriction applies to travel anywhere in France, not just to Paris:
Official travel and emergency leave travel to France requires approval from the first general/flag officer (or SES) in the chain of command.

Do you suppose EUCOM consulted the Chief of Mission in France before issuing this travel restriction and making it a matter of public information? I don't know, but I think not.

I could have sworn there is some kind of official USG policy about such situations. Maybe it's in this publicly available source of information:
7 FAM 052.3 Coordination of Threat Information with the Military Under the No Double Standard Policy

It can be consistent with the "no double standard" policy for the Department of State to determine that sharing information with private U.S. citizens is not appropriate in cases where the Department of Defense (DoD) releases threat information to military personnel. For example, upon receiving information concerning a possible threat to U.S. citizens in a particular country, the chief of mission (COM) may conclude that the information is not credible. In this case, the Emergency Action Committee (EAC) would not recommend releasing the information to other DOS personnel and private U.S. citizens in country. However, a military commander, upon receiving the same threat information, might decide to release the threat information to U.S. troops in country, or might confine the troops to their base without informing them of the alleged threat. The paragraphs below provide a clarification of how military procedures relate to the "no double standard" policy.

DoD Personnel Under Military Command: The Department of Defense is responsible for the safety and security of DoD personnel under military command. U.S. military commanders therefore make independent decisions about whether or when to disseminate threat information to their personnel. Should post become aware of a DoD notification made locally, post should immediately inform the Department. Once notified that DoD has disseminated threat formation to their personnel, the Department of State decides, in conjunction with relevant posts, whether information about the threat is such that the Department of State should also disseminate it to the non-official U.S. community.

So if I understand EUCOM correctly, there is a threat condition that effects military personnel, civilian employees, contractors, family members, and persons on official travel or emergency leave, but we civilians and tourists may carry on enjoying Paris as usual.

I haven't seen any press accounts of American tourists asking U.S. Embassy Paris whether it's safe to travel there now. Tourism in France is probably at a low ebb at the moment anyway. But still, sending uncoordinated security warnings is a very poor practice.



11 comments:

Anonymous said...

TSB: I have been monitoring flightradar24, Paris hotel bookings and ny flight arr/dep's. Air France is 80% of all passenger flights to Paris,including from Germany and London. The cheap AFrance flight from the US is about $660 each way and the taxes are only slightly less so about $4400 for a couple. I can be scared right here for a lot less. gwb

TSB said...

$600 each way to Paris? Maybe they could offer a Defying ISIL Discount or something.

Anonymous said...

TSB: What we are seeing in Europe is the one thing that no one dare's to oppose, except Putin. The deep state.

The deep state refers to a parallel secret government, organized by the intelligence and security apparatus, financed by drugs, and engaging in illicit violence, to protect the status and interests of the military against intellectual, religious groups, and occasionally the constitutional government.
-Professor Peter Dale Scott

So it is interesting that ISIS terrorist planning seems to center around Brussels and NATO is suspected of creating and arming ISIS from Brussels by nobody whose career depends upon the deep state. (So think Charles DeGaulle kicked NATO out of France after he was the target of repeated assassination attempts and France is still paying for that today.)
Gladio: Nato's Dagger at the Heart of Europe-The Pentagon-Nazi-Mafia Terror Axis by Richard Cottrell (2010-2012) gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: Now we might see that Chi-com carrier teaming up with the Charles DeGaulle to crush ISIS or maybe be the only carrier willing to brave the Persian Gulf?, establish peace and order
and monitor free and fair elections. gwb
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-19/here-comes-china-xi-vows-terror-fight-after-isis-executes-first-chinese-hostage

Anonymous said...

TSB: She's smart, experienced and well... that's the problem! gwb

Exposed – The Clinton Foundation Is Running A $20 Million Private Equity Firm In Colombia

TSB said...

Regarding the Chi-Coms, I think they will tend to write off casualties abroad. Bombing isn't their style of revenge.

Anonymous said...

Good point TSB,since this last weekend. http://atimes.com/2015/11/turkey-to-get-railroads-from-china-not-missiles/
This weekend Chairman Xi announced a partnership to finish Turkey's futuristic high speed rail route thru Turkey. http://binged.it/1NeZXMe

"Daesh’s smuggled oil is exported to Turkey by BMZ, a shipping company controlled by none other than Bilal Erdogan, son of “Sultan” Erdogan. (So all those oil trucks being bombed are presumably 'non-BMG') So maybe we get Chinese railroad workers to connect Syria with the high speed rail to Ankara? gwb

TSB said...

The Chinese building railroads - that's something Americans can appreciate. Coolies did fine work on our transcontinental line. So did the Irish, but they seem to have moved on to other types of work since then.

Anonymous said...

TSB: 'The Onion' Predicted This in 2003: (The Anti-Media.org)
As fictional debater Nathan Eckert warned:
“This war will not put an end to anti-Americanism; it will fan the flames of hatred even higher. It will not end the threat of weapons of mass destruction; it will make possible their further proliferation. And it will not lay the groundwork for the flourishing of democracy throughout the Mideast; it will harden the resolve of Arab states to drive out all Western (i.e. U.S.) influence.”
He (the fictitious debater David Eckert) continued:

“If you thought Osama bin Laden was bad, just wait until the countless children who become orphaned by U.S. bombs in the coming weeks are all grown up. Do you think they will forget what country dropped the bombs that killed their parents? In 10 or 15 years, we will look back fondly on the days when there were only a few thousand Middle Easterners dedicated to destroying the U.S. and willing to die for the fundamentalist cause. From this war, a million bin Ladens will bloom.”
gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: Rachel Maddow reported last night that the guy who led the Mali attack was the same one-eyed guy who led the move to Mali after Ghaddafy was killed. He then led the big successful attack on the French refinery in Morocco. This guy was reported killed in Libya, then reported killed in Mali, then in Morocco, then in an attack in northern Mali and now finally in Mali again. So, if you see a 1 eyed guy who looks like a terrorist don't bother reporting it. He's really dead this time! We may have to wait for the book to see who gets the credit.gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: Wait? I guess he's still not dead. gwb
Officials say notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar was 'likely behind' the massacre.
(daily mail)