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Conway: Time to send Iraq-bound troops to Afghanistan

DURHAM, N.C. — There is a limit to how many troops can be sent to Afghanistan without drawing down the number deployed in Iraq or other places, the Marines’ top general said Thursday.

Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, told reporters before speaking to a sea power conference that the time is right to send about 2,000 Marines to southern Afghanistan instead of Iraq’s Anbar province because violence has subsided.

The Marine task force includes a battalion from Camp Lejeune and will replace two North Carolina-based Marine units now in Afghanistan. The task force is scheduled to deploy in November.

“The things we used to do in Anbar are much less needed today,” Conway said, noting that on a recent trip to Iraq, he saw people building instead of fighting.

He said 20,000 to 25,000 Marines in Anbar plus Iraqi forces that have been trained are enough for now.

But if the president wants “to increase the Marine presence in Afghanistan, you must reduce in Iraq,” Conway said, adding his personal belief that Marines are needed more in Afghanistan than Iraq. “We can’t continue unless we’re allowed to draw down elsewhere.”

Conway said Marines also need more time at their home bases so they can reconnect with their families and get more training for both traditional combat and counterinsurgency missions. He said the Marines can do both missions but need training and have been focused on counterinsurgency. He said they need to be deployed seven months and at home for 14.

Conway also said it would take a year to remove all Marines from Iraq if ordered, and that Marines are being trained both for duty in Afghanistan and Iraq at desert and mountain training centers.

Conway and other military officers also spoke to a conference that promotes the importance of U.S. sea power.

He said the U.S. should equip sea bases with ground combat troops and aircraft that can quickly respond to emergencies in countries that won’t allow war ships into port.

Conway said the sea bases could allow U.S. forces to move around hostile countries rather than needing to seize airfields and ports. Sea bases composed of five or six ships that act as ports and airfields afloat also can be used for humanitarian relief.

Planners in the Marine Corps believe future conflicts will include oil supply disagreements but “nations will be prepared to go to war for water,” he said.