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thedrifter
01-30-07, 08:37 AM
Conway: Corps unlikely to return to Afghanistan

By Kimberly Johnson - Staff writer
Posted : February 05, 2007

Marines are unlikely to head into Afghanistan in the near term, despite expected increases in fighting in the coming months and a request from military planners to bring leathernecks back into the fight, the Corps’ top commander said on Jan. 22. He cited the ongoing troop buildup in Iraq as the reason his Marines won’t be going.

“News is not so good, obviously, coming out of Afghanistan,” Commandant Gen. James Conway said, addressing a Marine Corps Association luncheon in Alexandria, Va. “Traditionally, the Taliban there go to the caves this time of year and, during the deep snow, contemplate their navels and think about what they’re going to do in the spring. They’re not doing that this year.”

Taliban attacks are up, he said. “The good news is, I suppose, that the NATO forces are doing better than we anticipated, perhaps not as well in all areas, but they’re able to do peacekeeping and peacemaking, as well, where that requirement exists,” Conway said.

Attacks are expected to rise with the temperatures. “We see that Afghanistan is going to be a pretty tough fight in the spring,” he said. Military planners “want another Marine battalion there, and that’s not likely to happen because of some things that have to do with the surge that we’re seeing in Iraq.”

Conway, during a visit with troops in North Carolina last year, raised the possibility of sending a battalion back to Afghanistan. The “surge” refers to the increase of 21,500 Marines and soldiers in Iraq in the near term. As part of that buildup, the Corps is extending the deployments of 4,000 Marines — two infantry battalions and a Marine expeditionary unit — in Iraq’s Anbar province.

“There was a Marine battalion [in Afghanistan] not long ago. They left a tremendous legacy. They still talk about how those guys got off the road, got into the mountains, into the passages and just kicked butt. They’d like to have that replicated again,” Conway said.

“There’s little probability at this point that we’re going to see that.”

The last leatherneck unit to go to Afghanistan was Hawaii-based 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, which returned home last summer. Corps officials said then that Army and NATO troops would take over.

Days after Conway spoke on the issue, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said 3,200 soldiers with the Army’s 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, would be extended in Afghanistan for up to 120 days.

“This extension will provide military capability for NATO to maintain the initiative and build upon the success achieved in promoting stability and security, while denying safe haven for the Taliban,” according to a Jan. 25 statement.

Force levels in the country will “continue to be conditions-based” and determined with the help of the Afghan government and NATO, the statement said.

“The United States remains committed to leading the counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, training and equipping the Afghan national security forces and assisting with reconstruction,” the statement said.

Ellie

lilspitfire66
02-27-07, 10:08 AM
Conway: Corps unlikely to return to Afghanistan

By Kimberly Johnson - Staff writer
Posted : February 05, 2007

Marines are unlikely to head into Afghanistan in the near term, despite expected increases in fighting in the coming months and a request from military planners to bring leathernecks back into the fight, the Corps’ top commander said on Jan. 22. He cited the ongoing troop buildup in Iraq as the reason his Marines won’t be going.

“News is not so good, obviously, coming out of Afghanistan,” Commandant Gen. James Conway said, addressing a Marine Corps Association luncheon in Alexandria, Va. “Traditionally, the Taliban there go to the caves this time of year and, during the deep snow, contemplate their navels and think about what they’re going to do in the spring. They’re not doing that this year.”

Taliban attacks are up, he said. “The good news is, I suppose, that the NATO forces are doing better than we anticipated, perhaps not as well in all areas, but they’re able to do peacekeeping and peacemaking, as well, where that requirement exists,” Conway said.

Attacks are expected to rise with the temperatures. “We see that Afghanistan is going to be a pretty tough fight in the spring,” he said. Military planners “want another Marine battalion there, and that’s not likely to happen because of some things that have to do with the surge that we’re seeing in Iraq.”

Conway, during a visit with troops in North Carolina last year, raised the possibility of sending a battalion back to Afghanistan. The “surge” refers to the increase of 21,500 Marines and soldiers in Iraq in the near term. As part of that buildup, the Corps is extending the deployments of 4,000 Marines — two infantry battalions and a Marine expeditionary unit — in Iraq’s Anbar province.

“There was a Marine battalion [in Afghanistan] not long ago. They left a tremendous legacy. They still talk about how those guys got off the road, got into the mountains, into the passages and just kicked butt. They’d like to have that replicated again,” Conway said.

“There’s little probability at this point that we’re going to see that.”

The last leatherneck unit to go to Afghanistan was Hawaii-based 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, which returned home last summer. Corps officials said then that Army and NATO troops would take over.

Days after Conway spoke on the issue, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said 3,200 soldiers with the Army’s 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, would be extended in Afghanistan for up to 120 days.

“This extension will provide military capability for NATO to maintain the initiative and build upon the success achieved in promoting stability and security, while denying safe haven for the Taliban,” according to a Jan. 25 statement.

Force levels in the country will “continue to be conditions-based” and determined with the help of the Afghan government and NATO, the statement said.

“The United States remains committed to leading the counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, training and equipping the Afghan national security forces and assisting with reconstruction,” the statement said.

Ellie


NATO? Ummm more like the US & British troops. No one else seems to want to provide troops on the ground out in Afghanistan so that leaves the US & Brits doing all the donkey work.

Britain is preparing to deploy another 1,400 troops out there. So those that are being pulled out of Iraq will see themselves heading out to the Helmand province in the future.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/1400ExtraUkTroopsToDeployToAfghanistan.htm