Salahadin
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* Dutch troops can have smaller Afghan mission after pullout
WASHINGTON: US Marines are ready to get out of Iraq rapidly to enable a further 20,000 to deploy to Afghanistan as part of a major buildup there, Marine Corps Commandant James Conway said on Friday.
The time is right for Marines to leave Iraq, the top Marine officer told reporters, reflecting on the improved security situation there. As part of the drawdown in Iraq, where more than 20,000 Marines are currently stationed, Conway said he expected an equivalent increase of 20,000 or less Marines to Afghanistan, where about 2,200 Marines are currently deployed. Thats really where Marines need to be. Thats what we offer the nation, he said.
The Marine deployment would help fulfill the up to 30,000 troops military planners have proposed to inject in Afghanistan within the next 12 to 18 months to bolster the approximately 34,000 US troops already there. Another 143,000 US troops are in Iraq. Marines have been steadily removing equipment from theater in Iraq, Conway said. The timeline we think today is down to six to eight months to get the rest of our equipment out of Iraq. Marines in Iraq are currently deployed mostly in Al-Anbar province, a mostly Sunni tribal area that had been the sight of much violence and now has an improved security situation.
Its very much a nation-building kind of environment thats taking place there now, Conway said, adding that is not what we do, and we need those Marines elsewhere. He said he did not want a significant residual Marine force in Iraq.
When we begin the movement of Marines from Iraq to Afghanistan, we are asking that the period of transition be as condensed as it possibly can, and also, that when the door slams on Marines in Iraq, that all Marines be on the other side of the door, he said. There are currently between 60,000 and 70,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, about three-quarters of them under NATO command. Conway recognised that the departure of Marines from Iraq would depend on the needs of the commander of US troops there, General Ray Odierno, with provincial elections set to take place on January 31. The elections would be the first time Sunnis go to the polls in numbers after boycotting the last elections in 2005. The concern on the part of General Odierno is that there could be violence in the wake of an election, that we could lose some of the gains that we have made, Conway said, while cautioning that not everybody shares that view.
Dutch mission: Separately, Dutch premier Jan Peter Balkenende reiterated on Friday that the 1,600 Dutch troops in Afghanistan would end their mission in 2010 but could contribute a smaller mission after that. We will stop in (the southern province of) Uruzgan in 2010, Balkenende told a news conference.
An important mission of the size that we have at the moment in Uruzgan, and which ends in 2010, that is difficult, he said. But he did not exclude having a small mission by the Dutch military after that date. If there are requests, we can talk about it. But there are no requests at the moment, he said. When it renewed the mission two years ago, the Dutch government vowed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 2010. The Netherlands is part of a NATO-led force of 51,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan. afp
WASHINGTON: US Marines are ready to get out of Iraq rapidly to enable a further 20,000 to deploy to Afghanistan as part of a major buildup there, Marine Corps Commandant James Conway said on Friday.
The time is right for Marines to leave Iraq, the top Marine officer told reporters, reflecting on the improved security situation there. As part of the drawdown in Iraq, where more than 20,000 Marines are currently stationed, Conway said he expected an equivalent increase of 20,000 or less Marines to Afghanistan, where about 2,200 Marines are currently deployed. Thats really where Marines need to be. Thats what we offer the nation, he said.
The Marine deployment would help fulfill the up to 30,000 troops military planners have proposed to inject in Afghanistan within the next 12 to 18 months to bolster the approximately 34,000 US troops already there. Another 143,000 US troops are in Iraq. Marines have been steadily removing equipment from theater in Iraq, Conway said. The timeline we think today is down to six to eight months to get the rest of our equipment out of Iraq. Marines in Iraq are currently deployed mostly in Al-Anbar province, a mostly Sunni tribal area that had been the sight of much violence and now has an improved security situation.
Its very much a nation-building kind of environment thats taking place there now, Conway said, adding that is not what we do, and we need those Marines elsewhere. He said he did not want a significant residual Marine force in Iraq.
When we begin the movement of Marines from Iraq to Afghanistan, we are asking that the period of transition be as condensed as it possibly can, and also, that when the door slams on Marines in Iraq, that all Marines be on the other side of the door, he said. There are currently between 60,000 and 70,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, about three-quarters of them under NATO command. Conway recognised that the departure of Marines from Iraq would depend on the needs of the commander of US troops there, General Ray Odierno, with provincial elections set to take place on January 31. The elections would be the first time Sunnis go to the polls in numbers after boycotting the last elections in 2005. The concern on the part of General Odierno is that there could be violence in the wake of an election, that we could lose some of the gains that we have made, Conway said, while cautioning that not everybody shares that view.
Dutch mission: Separately, Dutch premier Jan Peter Balkenende reiterated on Friday that the 1,600 Dutch troops in Afghanistan would end their mission in 2010 but could contribute a smaller mission after that. We will stop in (the southern province of) Uruzgan in 2010, Balkenende told a news conference.
An important mission of the size that we have at the moment in Uruzgan, and which ends in 2010, that is difficult, he said. But he did not exclude having a small mission by the Dutch military after that date. If there are requests, we can talk about it. But there are no requests at the moment, he said. When it renewed the mission two years ago, the Dutch government vowed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 2010. The Netherlands is part of a NATO-led force of 51,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan. afp
