Conway: Afghanistan plan scrapped

[unhappycamper]

Conway: Afghanistan plan scrapped
By Peter Eisler and Blake Morrison - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Dec 6, 2007 6:15:20 EST

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates has turned down the Marines’ proposal to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, Marine Corps Commandant James Conway said Wednesday.

Conway told reporters he proposed the move in a meeting with Gates last week but Gates declined. “It doesn’t appear that additional Marine units will be needed in Afghanistan in the near future,” Conway said.

Conway and other Marines wanted to play a greater role in Afghanistan because fighting in the sector of Iraq they patrol — Sunni-dominated Anbar province — has declined sharply.

That reduced violence, Conway said, was one reason he cut the Marines’ projected orders for new armored vehicles that provide greater protection against roadside bombs, the largest killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.

On Nov. 30, he announced the Marines had slashed their orders of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles from 3,700 to 2,300.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/12/gns_marinesafghan_071205/