thedrifter
01-11-07, 07:31 PM
4,000 Marines to be extended in Iraq
By Kimberly Johnson - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 11, 2007 15:48:45 EST
The deployments of some 4,000 Marines already in Iraq’s Anbar province will be extended as part of the overall “surge” of troops announced by President Bush on Wednesday night.
The extensions involve two infantry battalions and a Marine expeditionary unit: 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.; 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, based at Twentynine Palms, Calif.; and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The 15th MEU includes Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, and Combat Logistics Battalion 15, both based at Pendleton, and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.
The two infantry battalions will be extended up to 90 days, while the MEU will remain in Iraq for 45 days, said Corps spokesman Capt. Jay Delarosa.
The extensions will do little to disrupt the rapid deployment tempo for the infantry units. “These battalions are scheduled to deploy again approximately seven to nine months after they return from Iraq, assuming operational requirements remain constant,” Delarosa said.
While the bulk of the 21,500 troops of Bush’s planned surge will be sent to Baghdad, shoring up Marine territory in Anbar against al-Qaida insurgents is key, he said.
“Al-Qaida has helped make Anbar the most violent area of Iraq outside the capital,” Bush said.
But adding 4,000 Marines in Anbar will likely do little to disrupt al-Qaida’s growing base in the western province, Steven Simon, a Middle East analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a statement immediately following Bush’s remarks.
“It is true, nonetheless, that al-Qaida has gotten a toehold in western Iraq, which it will expand and use as a base of operations if left unhindered,” he said. “Since the surge strategy allocates only a small part of the additional troops to Anbar province, the new administration strategy is not likely to resolve this uncertainty.”
The decision to surge troops is cosmetic, he added. “At this point, the United States does not have enough deployable troops to ‘clear, hold, build,’ even as the president’s reluctance to acknowledge the growing chaos in Iraq has undermined public confidence in his judgment.”
The units that are being extended are operating under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), which controls Marine forces in the country. Those extended units will operate in addition to the units from II MEF that have begun deploying there as part of this year’s scheduled rotation of Marine forces.
The 15th MEU deployed from California Sept. 13 and established its headquarters at Camp Korean Village, near Rutbah, Iraq, on Dec. 4. The MEU sailed with the ships of the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group, which includes the amphibious assault ship Boxer, amphibious transport dock Dubuque and dock landing ship Comstock.
Members of 3/4 began deploying Aug. 31, while 1/6 relieved 3/8 near Rutbah, Iraq, in September.
By Kimberly Johnson - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 11, 2007 15:48:45 EST
The deployments of some 4,000 Marines already in Iraq’s Anbar province will be extended as part of the overall “surge” of troops announced by President Bush on Wednesday night.
The extensions involve two infantry battalions and a Marine expeditionary unit: 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.; 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, based at Twentynine Palms, Calif.; and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The 15th MEU includes Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, and Combat Logistics Battalion 15, both based at Pendleton, and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.
The two infantry battalions will be extended up to 90 days, while the MEU will remain in Iraq for 45 days, said Corps spokesman Capt. Jay Delarosa.
The extensions will do little to disrupt the rapid deployment tempo for the infantry units. “These battalions are scheduled to deploy again approximately seven to nine months after they return from Iraq, assuming operational requirements remain constant,” Delarosa said.
While the bulk of the 21,500 troops of Bush’s planned surge will be sent to Baghdad, shoring up Marine territory in Anbar against al-Qaida insurgents is key, he said.
“Al-Qaida has helped make Anbar the most violent area of Iraq outside the capital,” Bush said.
But adding 4,000 Marines in Anbar will likely do little to disrupt al-Qaida’s growing base in the western province, Steven Simon, a Middle East analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a statement immediately following Bush’s remarks.
“It is true, nonetheless, that al-Qaida has gotten a toehold in western Iraq, which it will expand and use as a base of operations if left unhindered,” he said. “Since the surge strategy allocates only a small part of the additional troops to Anbar province, the new administration strategy is not likely to resolve this uncertainty.”
The decision to surge troops is cosmetic, he added. “At this point, the United States does not have enough deployable troops to ‘clear, hold, build,’ even as the president’s reluctance to acknowledge the growing chaos in Iraq has undermined public confidence in his judgment.”
The units that are being extended are operating under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), which controls Marine forces in the country. Those extended units will operate in addition to the units from II MEF that have begun deploying there as part of this year’s scheduled rotation of Marine forces.
The 15th MEU deployed from California Sept. 13 and established its headquarters at Camp Korean Village, near Rutbah, Iraq, on Dec. 4. The MEU sailed with the ships of the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group, which includes the amphibious assault ship Boxer, amphibious transport dock Dubuque and dock landing ship Comstock.
Members of 3/4 began deploying Aug. 31, while 1/6 relieved 3/8 near Rutbah, Iraq, in September.