October 11, 2007
Could Marines Salvage Mission In Afghanistan?
The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times are reporting that the U.S. Marines Corps is requesting redeployment from Iraq to Afghanistan, where Taliban fighting has increased considerably. The reasons are not officially explicated, but there are a few obvious possibilities.
Now that Anbar province is relatively calm, the Marines sent there to wrest back control from Sunni insurgents seem mostly to be serving in an overwatch and training capacity, a role better suited for the Army. The LAT obtained an e-mail from one officer there, Lt. Col. Beau Higgins, noting the dramatic drop in attacks on U.S. forces. Higgins concluded, "It's critical that we stay here to continue to assist... but our role as fire fighters in the zone moving from hot spot to hot spot has truly gone."
The hallmarks of the USMC are rapid readiness and targeted strikes, not occupation. In 2004, for instance, the Marines were sent to calm the spiraling-out situation in Fallujah. The LAT reports that the 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment returned from Anbar on Monday after a seven-month deployment without having lost one of their number; in an earlier deployment, the unit suffered 15 deaths.
The current military mission in Iraq is to replicate the successes of Anbar elsewhere. It's not clear what the mission now is in Afghanistan, mostly because it isn't talked about as much.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautioned today that discussions were "extremely preliminary" and confined to the USMC, but the idea represents an intriguing strategy shift. Washington has long complained of insufficient troops and supplies from NATO partners. In an interview with the London Telegraph this week, the top NATO commander there said the alliance's presence in Afghanistan was not "big enough to clear and hold every part of this country."
"I think all 26 members realize that from a military context, and that is primarily why NATO is here, this is a decision point. Either we are going to get it done, or we won't," said U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeill.
The Taliban's comeback has complicated the mission in Afghanistan, where international troops were initially sent to topple the regime and hunt down al-Qaida. For instance, the U.S. is now also leading the charge against the exploding poppy trade. Further frustrating matters is the hodgepodge of zones drawn up by NATO that are often controlled by contingents from different countries that do not share the same goals.
Critics of the Bush administration say it allowed conditions in Afghanistan to deteriorate while struggling to keep a losing and unjust war in Iraq going. Regardless of whether that is true, shifting the Marines over to Afghanistan could replenish the mission there. According to the NYT report, USMC officials believe it can carry out operations more expeditiously than the Army, which cannot conduct air operations on its own.
In a speech before the Association of the United States Army yesterday, Gates said he was pushing for faster expansion of the Army to prepare for the years of unconventional fighting ahead. The military as a whole has undergone a radical transformation since even before the 9/11 attacks, as former DefSec Donald Rumsfeld oversaw the first major realignment of the U.S. military's overseas footprints since the end of the Cold War. But his vision of strategically placed, fleet-footed units scattered around the world's hot spots hasn't played out so smoothly because of the prolonged and resource-greedy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Until our government decides to plus up our civilian agencies like the Agency for International Development, Army soldiers can expect to be tasked with reviving public services, rebuilding infrastructure, and promoting good governance," Gates said yesterday. "All these so-called 'nontraditional' capabilities have moved into the mainstream of military thinking, planning, and strategy -- where they must stay." With much more international support in Afghanistan than in Iraq, swapping the Marines out and placing ownership of Iraq more fully in the Army's hands could well attract more support over the coming weeks.
Lawrence Korb, former assistant defense secretary under President Reagan, co-wrote an editorial this week urging the U.S. to refocus efforts on Afghanistan. The NATO mission there is expected to dominate a meeting of defense ministers later this month, as more European nations express eagerness to withdraw forces in the face of increasing casualties.
Posted at 1:23 PM
Posted to:
Afghanistan, Asia, Bush Administration, Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates
Share via
