3,200 Marines Prepare for Afghan Tour

[LeighAnn]

Source: Washington Post

Military officials said Monday that about 3,200 Marines are being told to prepare to go to Afghanistan _ a move that will boost combat troop levels in time for an expected Taliban offensive this spring.

Once complete, the deployment would increase U.S. forces in Afghanistan to as much as 30,000, the highest level since the 2001 invasion after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The notices come as explosions rocked Kabul's most popular luxury hotel Monday, killing at least six people, including one American and a journalist from Norway. Officials said the assault on the Serena Hotel by militants may signal a new era of Taliban attacks.

The military began notifying the Marines and their families over the weekend, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates was expected to sign the formal deployment orders. It was not clear Monday whether the orders had been signed yet.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/14/AR2008011402043.html?hpid=topnews

[aquart]

1. I thought marines were shock troops.

What are we using them for now?

[acmavm]

2. 'Tour'? The headline makes it sound like a trip on the Love Boat.

Or a jaunt with Gilligan and the Captain.

[Earth_First]

3. Record refugees. Increased Taliban offensive. RECORD opium production. No Osama bin Laden.

:shrug:

[maddezmom]

4. US to send 3,200 more troops to Afghanistan: Pentagon

US to send 3,200 more troops to Afghanistan: Pentagon 41 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush has signed off on a recommendation by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to send some 3,200 additional troops to Afghanistan, the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday.

The move to beef up US forces there comes amid growing concerns about rising insurgent violence and turmoil in neighboring Pakistan.

Analysts see the deployment however, as a stop-gap measure at a time when a revamped, unified strategy is needed to halt a worrying two-year slide in public confidence in the government of President Hamid Karzai.

Currently, there are 26,000 US troops in Afghanistan, most of them under the 40,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080115/pl_afp/usafghanistantroops_080115162027;_ylt=Auw6VGEprwAusLF7YiUWby2sOrgF