[R-G] More Marines heading to Afghanistan

[Anthony Fenton]

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is preparing to send at least 3,000 Marines  
to Afghanistan in April to bolster efforts to hold off another  
expected Taliban offensive in the spring, military officials said  
Wednesday.

The move represents a shift in Pentagon thinking that has been slowly  
developing after months of repeated insistence that the U.S. was not  
inclined to fill the need for as many as 7,500 more troops that  
commanders have asked for there. Instead, Defense Secretary Robert  
Gates pressed NATO allies to contribute the extra forces.
Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that a proposal  
will go before Gates on Friday that would send a ground and air  
Marine contingent as well as a Marine battalion — together totaling  
more than 3,000 forces — to southern Afghanistan for a "one-time,  
seven-month deployment."

Gates, he said, will want to review the request, and is not likely to  
make a final decision on Friday.

"He will take it and consider it thoroughly before approving it,"  
said Morrell. "I just want to get people away from the idea that this  
is going to be imminently approved by the secretary."

He said Gates "has some more thinking to do on this matter because  
it's a serious allocation of forces."

Morrell added that Gates' thinking on the issue has "progressed a  
bit" over time as it became clear that it was politically untenable  
for many of the NATO nations to contribute more combat troops to the  
fight.

"The commanders need more forces there. Our allies are not in the  
position to provide them. So we are now looking at perhaps carrying a  
bit of that additional load," the spokesman said.

Morrell said the move, first reported Wednesday by ABC News, was  
aimed at beating back "another Taliban offensive" that is expected  
this spring — as has occurred in previous years.

When Gates was in Afghanistan last month, commanders made it clear  
they needed the additional forces.

Last year was the most violent since the U.S.-led invasion of  
Afghanistan in 2001. The number of attacks has surged, including  
roadside bombings and suicide assaults.

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 the Afghan forces and hunting al-Qaida terrorists.

Morrell said that while the Marine ground and air contingent would be  
put in place to prevent a spring Taliban offensive, the Marine  
battalion likely would be used to train Afghan forces.

The shift in U.S. thinking on sending more combat forces to  
Afghanistan has appeared inevitable in recent weeks, based on the  
political realities in many of the NATO nations.

In meeting after meeting during his Afghanistan visit in early  
December, Gates heard pleas from both Afghan and U.S. military  
leaders for up to 7,500 more forces, with about half needed for  
training.

About a week later, Gates was asked by a reporter after a NATO  
meeting in Scotland whether the Bush administration was considering  
sending more troops to Afghanistan, in the event that the shortfalls  
are not bridged by NATO allies. Gates replied, "Not in the short term."

But by Dec. 21, Gates acknowledged during a press briefing that the  
Pentagon would "be looking at the requirement ourselves."

Bush administration officials pressed NATO allies for months to fill  
gaps in troops levels in Afghanistan, but many allied governments  
face public opposition to deeper involvement there.

Gates said at the Scotland meeting that the administration had  
decided to tone down its appeals to allies, taking into account  
"political realities" faced by some European governments whose  
citizens may see less reason to intervene in Afghanistan.

The Bush administration has launched a wide-ranging review of its  
policy in Afghanistan to ensure that gains made since the radical  
Islamist Taliban regime was ousted in 2001 are not lost and to  
bolster Afghan President Hamid Karzai's nascent government.

___

AP Military Writer Robert Burns contributed to this report.

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(This version CORRECTS number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 27,000.))