Marines press to remove units from Iraq

[ConcordCowboy]

Report: Marines press to move units from Iraq


Plan would involve shifting units to lead Afghanistan combat effort

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21245930/


WASHINGTON - The U.S. Marine Corps is pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and send Marines instead to Afghanistan to take the lead in combat there, The New York Times reported in Thursday editions.

Supporters argue that a realignment could allow the U.S. Army and Marines each to operate more efficiently in sustaining troop levels for two wars that have strained their forces, the paper said, citing senior military and Pentagon officials who requested anonymity.

The plan would require a major reshuffling and it would make Marines the dominant American force in Afghanistan in a war that has broader public support than the one in Iraq, the Times said.

Some officials sympathetic to the Army said such a realignment would help ease some pressure on the Army by allowing it to shift forces from Afghanistan into Iraq, the newspaper reported.

The suggestion was raised in a closed-door session last week convened by Defense Secretary Robert Gates for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and regional war-fighting commanders and is under review, the article said.

A Pentagon spokesman had no immediate comment.

No formal proposal
Aides to both Gates and the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Mike Mullen, said no formal proposal had been presented by the Marines, the newspaper reported.

The Times said the idea represents the first tangible new thinking to emerge since the White House last month endorsed a plan to begin gradual troop withdrawals from Iraq, but also signals that American forces likely will be in Iraq for years to come.

Currently, there are no major Marine units among the 26,000 or so U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In Iraq there are about 25,000 Marines among the 160,000 American troops there, the newspaper said.

[jterrell]

Send the Marines after Bin Laden and let's seriously wind down this babysitting mission in Iraq.

An established military base where we could react from as opposed to patrolling street corners appeals to me a good deal.

[ConcordCowboy]

Send the Marines after Bin Laden and let's seriously wind down this babysitting mission in Iraq.

An established military base where we could react from as opposed to patrolling street corners appeals to me a good deal.

HELLO!

[ConcordCowboy]

Gates: ‘No plan’ to pull Marines from Iraq

Defense chief downplays report of possible troop shift to Afghanistan

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21245930/

WASHINGTON - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday played down a newspaper report that the U.S. Marine Corps was pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and switch to a leading role in Afghanistan.

“I have heard that they were beginning to think about that and that’s all that I’ve heard. I’ve seen no plan, no one’s come to me with any proposals about it,” Gates told reporters in London after meeting his British counterpart, Des Browne.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the Marines’ suggestion was raised in a session last week convened by Gates for the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and regional war-fighting commanders. It comes at a time when Washington’s key ally in Iraq, Britain, is drawing down its presence there.

“My understanding is that it’s—at this point—extremely preliminary thinking on the part of perhaps some staff people in the Marine Corps but I don’t think at this point it has any stature,” Gates said.

Under the proposal, the newspaper said, the U.S. Army would concentrate on Iraq while the Marines would focus on Afghanistan.

Supporters of the idea argue that a realignment could allow the U.S. Army and Marines each to operate more efficiently in sustaining troop levels for two wars that have strained their forces, the New York Times said, citing senior military and Pentagon officials who requested anonymity.

The plan would require a major reshuffling and make the Marines the dominant American force in Afghanistan in a war that has broader public support than the one in Iraq, the Times said.

Realignment
Some officials sympathetic to the army said such a realignment would help ease pressure on the army by allowing it to shift attention from Afghanistan into Iraq, the newspaper reported.

Currently, there are no major Marine units among the 26,000 or so U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In Iraq there are about 25,000 Marines among the more than 160,000 U.S. troops there.

Despite some signs of disquiet in Washington about British plans to withdraw troops from southern Iraq, Gates and Browne put on a show of unity and insisted their plans were closely coordinated.

“The United Kingdom has been and continues to be a stalwart ally and a major contributor at every stage of the Iraq campaign,” Gates said.

Britain said this week it planned to halve its forces in Iraq to about 2,500 troops by next spring. There is an expectation that Britain will then focus more troops on Afghanistan, although the Ministry of Defense has not confirmed such a move.

“The U.S. and the U.K. share exactly the same aspirations for Iraq—for a stable, prosperous and democratic Iraq,” Defense Minister Browne said after meeting Gates.

“But ultimately only the Iraqis themselves can deliver that,” he said. “Our job is to fulfill our strategic objective which is to get the Iraqi security forces to a stage where they can take over responsibility for their own security.”