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Big_Dave
October 19th, 2007, 03:20
I'm not wanting this to turn into a pro war or anti war arguement. We're in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nothing we can do about it.

Do you feel that things would be better if the Marines took the Afghanistan problem and the Army took the Iraq problem? The reason I ask this is because I know for a fact that the Marines and the Army have big time differences in their combat doctrine. While their goals are the same, the way they achieve them are way different.
Marines Want Out of Iraq

Deutsche Presse-Agentur | October 11, 2007

Washington - The U.S. military is considering a suggestion that it shift the Marine Corps away from operations in Iraq and instead send the troops to Afghanistan in a bid to reduce strain on U.S. forces, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Marine Commandant General James Conway made the proposal during a meeting of top military leaders with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week, sources familiar with the discussion told the newspaper.

The move would free up Army forces currently stretched between both conflicts to focus solely on Iraq.

The military has been strained by extended tours of duty in the two countries, leaving troops less time at home and for training and limiting the number of soldiers available in case of emergencies elsewhere.

It was not clear how the idea had been received.

There are 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq as part of a beefed-up presence in the country, and President George W. Bush has said he wants to reduces that number by 30,000. Of the troops in Iraq, 25,000 are Marines, but there are no major Marine units in Afghanistan, the paper said.
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,152377,00.html?ESRC=army.nl

Sandman
October 20th, 2007, 03:13
I don't get the 'big picture' of what such a move would do. Pulling all the Marines out of Iraq and sending them to Afghanistan (and moving a similar number of Army troops from Afghanistan to Iraq) doesn't change anything. You still have that many troops in harm's way. Not to mention that's a pretty expensive Chinese fire drill, on a grand scale.

wombat
October 21st, 2007, 13:33
A unified command structure is the single most important component of any military operation.

A theater wide change of troop deployment would allow that to happen and, allow the troops to work to their best ability given the particular strengths of their military organization

Big_Dave
October 21st, 2007, 13:41
Very true Wombat.

acorn
October 21st, 2007, 23:43
More than any of the logistics we need to quit casterating the troops and let them do there job without fear of reprimand if an occasional "innocent" gets in the way. They have a tuff job to do and when they have to make decisions based on how they might be percieved instead of doing what is right then that poses problems.