Marinestan

via BLACKFIVE

It is right and proper to love the Marine Corps.

One unnamed Obama administration official was quoted by the Washington Post as saying, "We have better operational coherence with virtually all of our NATO allies than we have with the U.S. Marine Corps."Some officials call the new Marine enclave in Nimruz Province "Marinestan" -- as if, out of a Kipling or Conrad novel, the Marines have gone rogue to set up their own independent province of operations.

As the man says, that's the price of having a service that is as reliable as the Marine Corps.  Sometimes the best thing to do with a stallion trained for war is to give him his head.

Nicky Says: Semper FI !! 

Also from the article, this gem...

Over the last two centuries, two truths have emerged about the Marine Corps. One, they defeat the toughest of America's adversaries under the worst of conditions. And two, periodically their way of doing things -- and their eccentric culture of self-regard -- so bothers our military planners that some higher-ups try either to curb their independence or end the Corps altogether.