The Afghan "surge": Here come the Marines!

by Joe Hueglin

	Robert Gates.

Is United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates sending in the marines to compensate for NATO troops he considers ill-suited for battle with insurgents?

Reasons given for the deployment vary: prepare for an anticipated Taliban spring offensive; shame NATO's non-combat members into changing their policies; have troops "with a ‘more kinetic bent… in the field; “raise the corps' status after hard knocks in Iraq."

One thousand of the 3 200 will be training Afghan police, 1 000 will be replacing U.S. troops already there, 1 200 will be in the southern provinces “as a one time extraordinary event”. They will give no long term assistance to Canadian, Dutch and British forces engaged on a continuing basis.

Additional U.S. troops will not affect other NATO allies’ policies shaped by attitudes at home rather than events in Afghanistan.

In light of Secretary Gates description of NATO troops, Marine Commandant General James Conway words "more kinetic bent" undoubtedly mean his men will be will be more aggressive. Hopefully it will not be in the manner that led to expulsion from Afghanistan of a U.S. Marine special operations company for the way the men responded to an ambush by killing civilians which: “damaged the relationship between the local population and the Marine special operations company."

Speculation exists that the marines being sent as "part of a broader effort by senior officers like Conway to raise the corps' status after hard knocks in Iraq." If correct, headline earning action will no doubt be attempted.

It is unclear what effect the presence of the marines might have upon the purposes for which Canadian Forces are in Afghanistan. It will be interesting to see whether this U.S. "surge" is mentioned in the Manley Commission Report, and, if so, the impact might be attributed to it.

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