The San Diego-based Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, and the Marines aboard from Camp Pendleton's 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, have been put on high alert to protect American interests overseas ahead of Tuesday's release of a controversial report on CIA torture.
The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and the 11th MEU are currently deployed in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to the Makin Island Facebook page.
An unnamed U.S. defense official told CNN that thousands of additional Marines around the world have been put on alert, including:
• 2,000 Marines which make up a contingency response force for Africa. They are stationed routinely in Sigonella, Italy and Morón, Spain.
• 2,000 Marines stationed in the Middle East as a response force for that region. Some are already on duty in Iraq and Kuwait.
• Three teams of about 50 Marines each in Spain, Bahrain and Japan that are trained to reinforce U.S. embassies under threat.
“There are some indications that . . .the release of the report could lead to a greater risk that is posed to U.S. facilities and individuals all around the world. So the administration has taken the prudent steps to ensure that the proper security precautions are in place at U.S. facilities around the globe.”
Stars and Stripes describes the report as an investigation into CIA interrogation techniques that is "expected to detail and condemn what many consider acts of torture carried out against terrorist suspects in the years after the 9/11 attacks."
