Posted on 09/21/2009 8:52:09 PM PDT by Saoirise
In a little noticed development last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered 2,500 to 3,000 more troops to Afghanistan as soon as possible to meet imminent threats from roadside bombs.
Gates was responding to a request from the overall U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for more bomb disposal and route clearance teams, medical rescue units and intelligence specialists. All are needed to combat the rising use of roadside bombs, the No. 1 troop killer in Afghanistan.
Which troops are getting those assignments remained unclear Monday. But as military officials and the Obama administration debate the next steps in the fight for Afghanistan, more local Marines and sailors are reparing to be sent to the front lines.
Maj. Eric Dent, at Marine Corps headquarters at the Pentagon, said it is unclear if more Marines will get the call to join the more than 11,000 leathernecks already in Afghanistan.
"We still don't know if the Marine Corps is going to get tasked with this or not," Dent said.
Camp Pendleton officials also said they were awaiting word to see if some of the immediate needs McChrystal has identified will be filled by Marines and sailors from the base.
(snip) But military advisers have been suggesting in recent weeks that a troop surge is needed to tame a recalcitrant insurgency. President Obama is weighing that option, among others.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
OK O Man, we wouldn't have a "recalcitrant" insurgency if you let the Boots on the ground do what they are trained to do.
Pendleton Ping
Ships left here in San Diego the other day with Marines and another in a few days.
I have several Marine relatives based here at Camp Pendleton.
“We thought our civilian commanders were complete idiots , that did not have the least notion of what it took to win the war “ John McCain ‘ Faith of my Fathers ‘
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