Marines want out of Iraq
What will it take to end the war, you ask? Robert Gates has proved he doesn't have the courage to do it. The Democratic Congress can't either. Other than waiting for the next president to act, it might take someone from the inside to pressure for a course correction.
It appears that the , and wish to be sent to Afghanistan instead:
The Marine Corps is pushing to redeploy its forces from Iraq toAfghanistan to take the lead in combat operations there and essentiallyleave Iraq to the Army, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James T. Conway, raisedthe issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week, the Timesreported. Senior military and Pentagon officials said supporters of theproposal, including some in the Army, believe that such a realignmentcould allow both services to operate more efficiently in the face ofstrains on the separate forces.
No major Marine units are among the 26,000 U.S. forces inAfghanistan while 25,000 Marines are among the 160,000 U.S. troopsthere, the paper noted.
The Marines are at their very best when their job is to capture territory, which they are more efficient at than any other force in the world. But when they are told to sit and play defense, and be subjected to an urban insurgency, it goes against what their role has historically been.
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