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"Even if peace breaks out across Anbar province and the rest of Iraq, Marines may not get a break from the current op tempo.
Next stop: Afghanistan. Not this year — but maybe in 2009.
Senior Pentagon officials say the proposal to shift Marines out of Iraq and into Afghanistan in large numbers is back on the table.
Top military leaders shot down the idea last fall when Commandant Gen. James Conway said publicly that he’d like to leave Iraq to the Army and essentially take over the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.
But since then, the Pentagon opted to send more than 3,000 Marines into Afghanistan — the largest contingent of leathernecks deployed to that country in nearly four years — and efforts to get other NATO countries to commit more troops there have fallen flat.
Sending more Marines to Afghanistan may be the best option.
“I think it’s going to be very much tied to force levels in Iraq and then, should we be in a position to move forces into Afghanistan, I think that certainly would come back into consideration,” Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon press conference on Thursday."
Shift of Marines to Afghanistan back on table - Marine Corps News, news from Iraq - Marine Corps Times
Next stop: Afghanistan. Not this year — but maybe in 2009.
Senior Pentagon officials say the proposal to shift Marines out of Iraq and into Afghanistan in large numbers is back on the table.
Top military leaders shot down the idea last fall when Commandant Gen. James Conway said publicly that he’d like to leave Iraq to the Army and essentially take over the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.
But since then, the Pentagon opted to send more than 3,000 Marines into Afghanistan — the largest contingent of leathernecks deployed to that country in nearly four years — and efforts to get other NATO countries to commit more troops there have fallen flat.
Sending more Marines to Afghanistan may be the best option.
“I think it’s going to be very much tied to force levels in Iraq and then, should we be in a position to move forces into Afghanistan, I think that certainly would come back into consideration,” Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon press conference on Thursday."
Shift of Marines to Afghanistan back on table - Marine Corps News, news from Iraq - Marine Corps Times