Directories
Quick Searches
Find a Job
Quick Search
For Employers
Yahoo! HotJobs Local Search
MILITARY: Afghanistan mission could bring more casualties
Commandant says Marines are 'willing to step up'
By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | ∞
The 34th commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James T. Conway, kicked off a tour of Marine Corps installations on the West Coast on Thursday with a visit to Camp Pendleton. He will hold three town hall-style meetings on the base with Marines, sailors and their families. (Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - staff photographer) CAMP PENDLETON ---- The anticipated shift in forces from Iraq to Afghanistan to fight a growing insurgency will come at a cost, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway said Thursday during a visit to Camp Pendleton.
"Even though we are anxious to get Marines into Afghanistan, it is going to result in additional casualties," Conway said.
"We'll hate to see that," he added, "but it's what the nation requires of its warrior class and the Marines are willing to step up."
Conway was at this base north of Oceanside to hold a series of town hall-style meetings with Marines and their families. He took time in the morning to talk with reporters.
No formal decision has been made about how many more Marines to send to Afghanistan. But Conway said he anticipates that President-elect Barack Obama will keep his campaign promise to reduce troop levels in Iraq and redirect those forces to Afghanistan.
Increased security throughout Iraq, particularly in the Anbar province, prompted Conway last year to call for leaving Iraq and shifting his troops to Afghanistan, saying the mission there is a better fit for his combat forces.
Conway said Thursday that in order to put significantly more Marines in Afghanistan, they would have to be withdrawn from Iraq because the force is stretched to capacity.
"There is no residual force in Camp Pendleton or Camp Lejeune (in North Carolina) or anywhere else that we can simply call up and say, 'Go get 'em boys,'" Conway said.
Marines could easily be replaced in Iraq, where heavy combat has largely subsided, Conway said.
"I'm on the record as saying that what the Marine Corps is doing is nation-building in Iraq ... there's a lot of other people who can do our mission in Iraq," he said. "If you want that kind of highly capable force in Afghanistan, then we think that there is little enough risk in replacing us in Iraq."
However, the general said that Marines would need four to five months to prepare for the mission. They would need a different kind of training and different types of equipment, including lighter body armor and lighter armored vehicles.
Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.
More Stories
Advertisement
Advertisement