Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Inside The Army
December 3, 2007
Pg. 1
NEW YORK -- The Marine Corps is pushing ahead with a proposal to withdraw from Iraq and shift its forces to Afghanistan despite a lukewarm reaction from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who earlier this year said such a move -- which would leave Iraq largely to the Army -- would not take place on his watch, according to a senior Marine.
“We’re developing options,” Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, deputy commandant for programs and resources, said in a brief interview on Nov. 28 with InsideDefense.com here following an address to Credit Suisse and Aviation Week’s annual aerospace and defense finance conference.
Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, floated the idea of shifting Marines from western Iraq to Afghanistan during an early October meeting of senior-level military officials in Washington, according to reports on Oct. 11 by The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
Asked about this proposal on Oct. 18, Gates told reporters “if it happens it will be long after I’m secretary of defense.”
Still, planning for such a move continues.
“That is certainly an option that the commandant and others have identified as worthy of consideration,” said Castellaw. “The [defense] secretary has said that no one has come to him yet.
“When we work our way through the process, the secretary will be briefed on it and the nation will make a decision,” he added.
A NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan consists of roughly 26,000 troops from the Untied States and Europe. In Iraq, there are about 178,500 U.S. and coalition troops, including about 25,000 Marines in Anbar province.
“The decision is not ours. We provide options. And it’s a civilian decision, so we’ll see what happens,” said Castellaw, who did not mention when the proposal will be formally advanced.
-- Jason Sherman
December 3, 2007
Pg. 1
NEW YORK -- The Marine Corps is pushing ahead with a proposal to withdraw from Iraq and shift its forces to Afghanistan despite a lukewarm reaction from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who earlier this year said such a move -- which would leave Iraq largely to the Army -- would not take place on his watch, according to a senior Marine.
“We’re developing options,” Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, deputy commandant for programs and resources, said in a brief interview on Nov. 28 with InsideDefense.com here following an address to Credit Suisse and Aviation Week’s annual aerospace and defense finance conference.
Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, floated the idea of shifting Marines from western Iraq to Afghanistan during an early October meeting of senior-level military officials in Washington, according to reports on Oct. 11 by The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
Asked about this proposal on Oct. 18, Gates told reporters “if it happens it will be long after I’m secretary of defense.”
Still, planning for such a move continues.
“That is certainly an option that the commandant and others have identified as worthy of consideration,” said Castellaw. “The [defense] secretary has said that no one has come to him yet.
“When we work our way through the process, the secretary will be briefed on it and the nation will make a decision,” he added.
A NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan consists of roughly 26,000 troops from the Untied States and Europe. In Iraq, there are about 178,500 U.S. and coalition troops, including about 25,000 Marines in Anbar province.
“The decision is not ours. We provide options. And it’s a civilian decision, so we’ll see what happens,” said Castellaw, who did not mention when the proposal will be formally advanced.
-- Jason Sherman