thedrifter
02-12-08, 09:21 AM
Top Marine warns against leaving Iraq too soon
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
MIRAMAR MARINE CORPS AIR STATION -- Withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq without a clear victory in hand would be a strategic mistake with disastrous long-term consequences, according to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway.
"We can't back away," Conway said Saturday. "Some people think we can walk away, but we can't. If we do, it will not be the world that we knew and loved before all this started."
The four-star general also said the fight against al-Qaida and insurgents in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan are only opening battles in what could be a two-decade or more international war on terror.
"We can argue about how we got in this fight, but that is old news," Conway said while answering questions during an hour-long interview with the newspaper. "This is a fight between us and religious extremism."
Conway also addressed a wide array of issues in the meeting at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, including training and weapon system initiatives and an upcoming weight-loss plan for what he called "puffy Marines."
The long war
Seated inside a base headquarters conference room, Conway avoided direct mention of presidential politics and the pledge of Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to remove troops from Iraq. Instead, he stressed his view of the conflict confronting the nation's leaders and presidential hopefuls.
"I think we are in the first battles of the long war," he said. "People talk about the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan. I don't think those are wars -- they are the first battles we are experiencing."
Defeating extremist movements could take "inside of 30 years" if nations now sympathetic to that view don't adopt new policies, said Conway, who was in the region to visit troops and commanders at Camp Pendleton and Miramar and speak at a defense industry gathering.
"These people will play a whack-a-mole game with us," he said. "Where we squeeze them, they will go someplace else and then we will have to go there. Other nations will have to help us defeat the enemy and discourage their people from accepting the philosophy of extremism."
That is happening in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and to some extent in Pakistan, he said.
In many parts of Iraq such as the Anbar province where about 11,000 Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marines and sailors are serving, Conway said al-Qaida has "overplayed its hand."
"They've been exposed and people have looked behind the cover and don't like what they see."
To turn the tide and shorten the length of the conflict globally, Islamic moderates need to be nurtured, he said.
"We have got to empower the moderates within their religion," Conway said. "For us as Westerners to try and kill or capture the extremists, it will probably take a long time. But if we can get moderates to join the effort it could wrap up much more quickly."
Anbar and Afghanistan
The successes achieved last year in turning Sunni tribes against al-Qaida in Anbar continue and fuel unresolved questions about the Marine Corps' role in the once volatile province.
As more Iraqi army battalions and security forces assume responsibility, there is less of a role for Marines, a combat force that by its nature is not set up to conduct a long-term civil affairs mission.
Conway cited an anecdote Defense Secretary Robert Gates shared after a recent trip to Iraq.
"He talked to a corporal who said there's nobody to shoot anymore," said the commandant, who last year proposed shifting his troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.
Conway rejected a suggestion by Sunni insurgents last week that they can recapture the support of Anbar's population through continued reductions in violence.
"It's too late," he said. "The Sunnis, and arguably the Iraqi population in general, have turned away from the al-Qaida movement in Iraq. They've looked into the abyss -- the campaign of murder and intimidation -- and they don't like what they see."
The short-term future for Marines in Anbar is dependent on what overall U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus, says he needs when he reports to Congress this spring, Conway said. He said he does not believe the Marines will be sent to other trouble spots north and south of Baghdad.
If he can substantially cut troop levels in Iraq, Conway said he may propose that large units join the Army in the Afghanistan rotational deployment cycle.
The commandant said he continues to discuss Afghanistan with Gates even though the secretary rejected Conway's original pitch delivered last fall. In January, however, Gates responded to pleas from commanders for more troops in Afghanistan by ordering 3,200 Marines there this spring. The assignment came after some NATO countries balked at sending more of their troops.
While billed as a "one-time only" assignment to quell a springtime surge by the Taliban being forecast by military planners, Conway is not backing away from his original idea, saying he could see a continuing role for a substantial number of Marines in Afghanistan.
'Puffy Marines'
By summer, the Marine Corps will have instituted a new policy setting weight standards proportional to height.
"I see some Marines that are pretty puffy and we need to get away from that," said Conway, who last year banned tattoos on the neck and below the elbow. "That's not who we are, and even though it's sort of a national problem, it's not one we need accept."
Overweight troops who able to score high enough to pass current fitness exams are in the cross hairs, he said.
"We are going to say that you need to be within height and weight standards and, if not, we are going to take a close look at your body makeup," he said.
Age and gender will be factored in and troops deemed overweight will be given 60 days to get to the expected standard. Failing a re-examination will result in a cautionary letter and another two months to make weight. Those who don't will be put on a formal weight-loss program overseen by their commander.
"That will then be reflected in their record and that is not healthy for promotion, school selection or things like that," Conway said.
On other issues, Conway said:
Improvement continues in identifying Marines and treating them for traumatic brain injury from explosions and post-traumatic stress disorder. Five to 10 percent of Marines returning from Iraq have symptoms of brain injury while the number of post-traumatic stress cases has increased from 596 in 2004 to 1,869 in 2007, according to figures obtained from the Marine Corps last week.
Additional Marines could be sent to the Horn of Africa to work with nations on improving their own security forces.
The service is speeding development of high-tech training using simulators for ground forces.
A "Combat Hunter" program at Camp Pendleton is employing a big-game tracker from South Africa to help teach ways to follow an enemy on foot.
Miramar almost certainly will be home of the first West Coast Osprey aircraft unit around 2010.
Reinvigorating the expeditionary flavor of a ship-borne Marine Corps ready to respond to trouble around the world is a couple of years away and will in part be accomplished by increasing the service to from fewer than 190,000 troops today to 202,000 troops.
New initiatives and more funding for family support programs in response to deployment stress are in the works.
-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 3529, or mlwalker@californian.com.
Ellie
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
MIRAMAR MARINE CORPS AIR STATION -- Withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq without a clear victory in hand would be a strategic mistake with disastrous long-term consequences, according to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway.
"We can't back away," Conway said Saturday. "Some people think we can walk away, but we can't. If we do, it will not be the world that we knew and loved before all this started."
The four-star general also said the fight against al-Qaida and insurgents in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan are only opening battles in what could be a two-decade or more international war on terror.
"We can argue about how we got in this fight, but that is old news," Conway said while answering questions during an hour-long interview with the newspaper. "This is a fight between us and religious extremism."
Conway also addressed a wide array of issues in the meeting at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, including training and weapon system initiatives and an upcoming weight-loss plan for what he called "puffy Marines."
The long war
Seated inside a base headquarters conference room, Conway avoided direct mention of presidential politics and the pledge of Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to remove troops from Iraq. Instead, he stressed his view of the conflict confronting the nation's leaders and presidential hopefuls.
"I think we are in the first battles of the long war," he said. "People talk about the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan. I don't think those are wars -- they are the first battles we are experiencing."
Defeating extremist movements could take "inside of 30 years" if nations now sympathetic to that view don't adopt new policies, said Conway, who was in the region to visit troops and commanders at Camp Pendleton and Miramar and speak at a defense industry gathering.
"These people will play a whack-a-mole game with us," he said. "Where we squeeze them, they will go someplace else and then we will have to go there. Other nations will have to help us defeat the enemy and discourage their people from accepting the philosophy of extremism."
That is happening in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and to some extent in Pakistan, he said.
In many parts of Iraq such as the Anbar province where about 11,000 Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marines and sailors are serving, Conway said al-Qaida has "overplayed its hand."
"They've been exposed and people have looked behind the cover and don't like what they see."
To turn the tide and shorten the length of the conflict globally, Islamic moderates need to be nurtured, he said.
"We have got to empower the moderates within their religion," Conway said. "For us as Westerners to try and kill or capture the extremists, it will probably take a long time. But if we can get moderates to join the effort it could wrap up much more quickly."
Anbar and Afghanistan
The successes achieved last year in turning Sunni tribes against al-Qaida in Anbar continue and fuel unresolved questions about the Marine Corps' role in the once volatile province.
As more Iraqi army battalions and security forces assume responsibility, there is less of a role for Marines, a combat force that by its nature is not set up to conduct a long-term civil affairs mission.
Conway cited an anecdote Defense Secretary Robert Gates shared after a recent trip to Iraq.
"He talked to a corporal who said there's nobody to shoot anymore," said the commandant, who last year proposed shifting his troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.
Conway rejected a suggestion by Sunni insurgents last week that they can recapture the support of Anbar's population through continued reductions in violence.
"It's too late," he said. "The Sunnis, and arguably the Iraqi population in general, have turned away from the al-Qaida movement in Iraq. They've looked into the abyss -- the campaign of murder and intimidation -- and they don't like what they see."
The short-term future for Marines in Anbar is dependent on what overall U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus, says he needs when he reports to Congress this spring, Conway said. He said he does not believe the Marines will be sent to other trouble spots north and south of Baghdad.
If he can substantially cut troop levels in Iraq, Conway said he may propose that large units join the Army in the Afghanistan rotational deployment cycle.
The commandant said he continues to discuss Afghanistan with Gates even though the secretary rejected Conway's original pitch delivered last fall. In January, however, Gates responded to pleas from commanders for more troops in Afghanistan by ordering 3,200 Marines there this spring. The assignment came after some NATO countries balked at sending more of their troops.
While billed as a "one-time only" assignment to quell a springtime surge by the Taliban being forecast by military planners, Conway is not backing away from his original idea, saying he could see a continuing role for a substantial number of Marines in Afghanistan.
'Puffy Marines'
By summer, the Marine Corps will have instituted a new policy setting weight standards proportional to height.
"I see some Marines that are pretty puffy and we need to get away from that," said Conway, who last year banned tattoos on the neck and below the elbow. "That's not who we are, and even though it's sort of a national problem, it's not one we need accept."
Overweight troops who able to score high enough to pass current fitness exams are in the cross hairs, he said.
"We are going to say that you need to be within height and weight standards and, if not, we are going to take a close look at your body makeup," he said.
Age and gender will be factored in and troops deemed overweight will be given 60 days to get to the expected standard. Failing a re-examination will result in a cautionary letter and another two months to make weight. Those who don't will be put on a formal weight-loss program overseen by their commander.
"That will then be reflected in their record and that is not healthy for promotion, school selection or things like that," Conway said.
On other issues, Conway said:
Improvement continues in identifying Marines and treating them for traumatic brain injury from explosions and post-traumatic stress disorder. Five to 10 percent of Marines returning from Iraq have symptoms of brain injury while the number of post-traumatic stress cases has increased from 596 in 2004 to 1,869 in 2007, according to figures obtained from the Marine Corps last week.
Additional Marines could be sent to the Horn of Africa to work with nations on improving their own security forces.
The service is speeding development of high-tech training using simulators for ground forces.
A "Combat Hunter" program at Camp Pendleton is employing a big-game tracker from South Africa to help teach ways to follow an enemy on foot.
Miramar almost certainly will be home of the first West Coast Osprey aircraft unit around 2010.
Reinvigorating the expeditionary flavor of a ship-borne Marine Corps ready to respond to trouble around the world is a couple of years away and will in part be accomplished by increasing the service to from fewer than 190,000 troops today to 202,000 troops.
New initiatives and more funding for family support programs in response to deployment stress are in the works.
-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 3529, or mlwalker@californian.com.
Ellie