Report: Marine Corps pressing to take lead in Afghanistan, remove forces from Iraq

Above: Marines from Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment quickly man the perimeter during an indirect fire attack against Camp Blessing last year. Blessing was the most remote manned Marine Corp post in Afghanistan and constantly recieved enemy fire.

Marines Press to Remove Their Forces From Iraq

The Marine Corps is pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and to send marines instead to Afghanistan, to take over the leading role in combat there, according to senior military and Pentagon officials.

The idea by the Marine Corps commandant would effectively leave the Iraq war in the hands of the Army while giving the Marines a prominent new role in Afghanistan, under overall NATO command...

At the moment, there are no major Marine units among the 26,000 or so American forces in Afghanistan. In Iraq there are about 25,000 marines among the 160,000 American troops there.

It is not clear exactly how many of the marines in Iraq would be moved over. But the plan would require a major reshuffling, and it would make marines the dominant American force in Afghanistan, in a war that has broader public support than the one in Iraq.

Read the rest at the NY Times

Marines in Iraq may shift to Afghanistan

Marine Corps generals have told high-level civilian and military officials that as the Marines' mission in the once-violent Anbar province in Iraq winds down, the corps is ready -- even eager -- to redeploy combat troops to Afghanistan where fighting has increased, officials said Wednesday.

Such a shift could allow the Army units in Afghanistan to either be bolstered by the Marines or deployed to Iraq...

While the idea is being considered at the Pentagon and the commands in Baghdad and Afghanistan, it is not likely to change the plans of Marines from Camp Pendleton set to deploy to Iraq in the next three months, military officials said...

Some 11,000 troops from two regiments and a headquarters battalion are set to return to Iraq as responsibility for Anbar shifts from the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force to the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Marines would need some lead time to shift training emphasis from Iraq to Afghanistan but that could probably be accomplished by early next year, officials said.

Read the rest at the LA Time

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