Posted on 01/15/2008 1:58:39 PM PST by RedRover
About 3,200 Marines -- none from Camp Pendleton but some from Twentynine Palms -- are being told to prepare to go to Afghanistan, military officials said Monday.
The deployment is part of an effort to boost combat troop levels and get ready for an expected Taliban offensive this spring.
Once complete, the deployment would increase U.S. forces in Afghanistan to as much as 30,000, the highest level since the 2001 invasion after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The military began notifying the Marines and their families over the weekend, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates was expected to sign the formal deployment orders. It was not clear Monday whether the orders had been signed yet.
The proposal went to Gates on Friday, and while he told reporters that afternoon that he had some questions about the move, there has been every indication he was poised to approve it.
According to officials, 2,200 members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., will go to Afghanistan, as well as about 1,000 members of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, which is based at Twentynine Palms.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the deployment announcement has not yet been made.
If approved, the deployment to southern Afghanistan would be a "one-time, seven-month" assignment, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Friday.
The 2nd Battalion, which is from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, is an infantry unit, and it would be used largely for training Afghan forces, officials said.
The decision to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan represents a shift in Pentagon thinking that has been slowly developing in recent months. Commanders faced with increasing violence have said they need as many as 7,500 more troops, but Gates initially pressed for other NATO nations to fill the void.
NATO countries, however, faced public opposition to deeper involvement there and were slow to respond, leaving Gates to acknowledge recently that the U.S. may have to consider providing the extra combat troops.
Currently, there are about 27,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, including 14,000 with the NATO-led coalition. The other 13,000 U.S. troops are training Afghan forces and hunting al-Qaida terrorists.
Afghanistan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi said last week that the deployment would help combat Taliban insurgents. But Azimi added the long-term solution was to boost the fighting strength of Afghanistan's own army.
The Afghanistan assignment comes as an estimated 11,000 Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Airbase troops are deploying to Iraq's Anbar province where they are replacing Camp LeJeune's II Marine Expeditionary Force.
The local troops, deploying in two waves for seven-month assignments, will continue to train Iraqi army and security forces and conduct civil affairs operations.
Marines-off-for-Afghanistan ping.
I was talking to a Vietnam vet the other day. He feels sorry for the guys today. He was fighting a war in the land of prostitutes and alcohol.
LOL! You’re right. War is always a tough, dirty business. But our boys over there now deserve some kind of extra credit.
I’m sure they will acquit themselves well.
Regards
Not good news for the Taliban, these Marines will kick some butt.
Yeah, buddy! Wonder why SECDEF Gates was slow to get onboard with the plan to deploy more Marines? Regardless, I’m glad these boys are getting into the fight.
Because he was giving Reid and Pelosi time to broker peace with the Taliban, and failing that, use some of those air miles earned on the Gaza/Damascus/Tehran junket to visit NATO member countries and "bring all the countries that Bush alienated by his 'go it alone policy' together for a common cause and return America to the moral high ground it used to occupy"?
(I'm drowning in a puddle of sarcasm and I can't get up!)
I believe he was hoping our european ‘allies’ would step up to the plate.
They didn’t, nor were they ever likely to do so.
Good thing in a way, ‘cuz they aren’t in our league.
The story refers to exoskeleton military suits.
Anything like that going on out there?
Because that would really make for some scary, bad a$$ Marines!!
They will make a difference given sufficient support to carry out counter insurgency operations as trained. God speed to them all, and safe return once mission is complete.
Agreed, though it’d be nice to have a little more help with the heavy lifting once in a while.
The 24th MEU is out of Camp Lejeune.
Semper Fidelis,
fontman
Oh, there are a lot of prostitutes and lots of booze in Afghanistan. It’s just not “official.”
I worked with a guy who was a navigator on a B-52 stationed in Guam. They actually went to Saigon to party. I can’t imagine a bunch of guys in Diego Garcia saying “Hey, let’s fly to Kabul and party”.
“Hey, let’s fly to Kabul and party”.
Haa haaaa! That’s funny!
Seriously, though, part of the reason the hotel was attacked a couple days ago, and restaurants that foreigners frequent are threatened to come under attack is due to the underground partying. There are lots of brothels in Kabul, too.
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