Marines to be first wave in new Afghanistan plan

Marines to be first wave in new Afghanistan plan

Story

WASHINGTON – New infusions of U.S. Marines will begin moving into Afghanistan almost as soon as President Barack Obama announces a redrawn battle strategy, a plan widely expected to include more than 30,000 additional U.S. forces.

Obama will try to sell a skeptical public on his bigger, costlier war plan Tuesday by coupling the large new troop infusion with an emphasis on stepped-up training for Afghan forces that he says will allow the U.S. to leave.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 1-12-2009 by DaddyBare]

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DaddyBare]

What can I say.. Marines always get stuck with the "S,ity" jobs.

officials said at least one group of Marines is expected to deploy within two or three weeks of Obama's announcement, and would be in Afghanistan by Christmas. Larger deployments wouldn't be able to follow until early in 2010

The only good news is their stepping up training of an Afghan national security force...

Story

(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DaddyBare]

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DaddyBare]

Honestly, just get out!

Plain and simple, you just went in, now just get out.

The longer you stay there, the more the people will unite against you.

Why didn't they just send the big boys in there in the first place?
If they did we might not be there today.
Am I wrong or am I missing something here??
I thought the idea of war was to win??

Excuse any ignorance I show on this matter.

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DrumsRfun]

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DrumsRfun]

Let me take a moment to qualify that statement

The longer you stay there, the more the people will unite against you.

Trust me when I say we Marines don't want to be there..
It not like we have any choice in the matter... no one ever said Hey Gunny How'd you like to go to Afghanistan??? No they say pack your bags and get on the damn plane...

We may not like what choices our leaders have made for us but please remember to support the troops... there doing a very nasty job, when we'd rather be home for the holidays

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DaddyBare]

reply to post by DaddyBare


I can say pretty much the same thing, No Soldier wants to be in that Hell hole of a backwater country. Our government has no testicles to actually fight the war and our Generals are to Spineless to put them in there place. In the end we deploy and tmore dead Arabs and Americans alike.

While sending more troops is only going to get more people killed on both sides and is going to support a corrupt government.

But! What the US and Allies started, The US and Allies need to finish and not run away fearing the next election polls.... But i can only think the end is long long away and possibly it will never be resolved.

Maybe throw away the rule book and do whats needed to be done. Innocent people are going to die regardless, its war...

The incorrect decision Mr Obama. History teaches us that Afghanistan cannot be quelled. The British in the 1850's, Russia in the 1980's. Many Allied soldiers will die, many many more Afghanis will, and it will still end up with a withdrawl and subsequent takover of at least some of Afghanistan by Taliban like elements.

This escalation will not save the Karzai Government. If the reason for it, is to stop Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups then it is pointless. There are very few terrorists actually left in Afghanistan, the Taliban are a quite different entitiy. Indeed they offered to turn Bin Laden over to the U.S, proof of this difference.

Phased withdrawl was the only correct decision here in my opinion.

Originally posted by DaddyBare
We may not like what choices our leaders have made for us but please remember to support the troops... there doing a very nasty job, when we'd rather be home for the holidays

Of course I was referring to the administration not the marines.

also by the way, for me support the troops = Bring them home!

it's all that it means

I am all for a strong national defense but i am very much against foreign occupation.

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
Why didn't they just send the big boys in there in the first place?
If they did we might not be there today.
Am I wrong or am I missing something here??
I thought the idea of war was to win??

Excuse any ignorance I show on this matter.

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DrumsRfun]

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DrumsRfun]

The big question is, what is Victory? What will we win? how will we win it? Is it worth winning?

Originally posted by DaddyBare
Let me take a moment to qualify that statement

The longer you stay there, the more the people will unite against you.

Trust me when I say we Marines don't want to be there..
It not like we have any choice in the matter... no one ever said Hey Gunny How'd you like to go to Afghanistan??? No they say pack your bags and get on the damn plane...

We may not like what choices our leaders have made for us but please remember to support the troops... there doing a very nasty job, when we'd rather be home for the holidays

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DaddyBare]

Mate , I truly feel sorry for you all over there, your boys and ours ( I'm from the UK), but sooner or later no matter the personal cost you will all suffer the fights.
What you should do and I know its ok for me to say this and you'll probably come back with a counter argument which is fine as I have no military background, all the troops should ignore the orders given if there is no proof that the country in question is a threat to your own country.

Whats the point of going over to Afghanistan to fight for oil, erm excuse me, to fight a couple of hundred 'terrorists' if a few of them attacked your country, why invade another country simply because a few of its citizens attacked yours? surely you'd offer to assist the home nation in capturing the terrorists? instead of sending thousands of troops over there?
Iraq? same deal, no threat to the US but soldiers dying all the same.

Even though soldiers have the balls to fight a foe, they don't fight the real foe, the leaders that make the decisions that lead to the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of your fellow soldiers.
Imagine the peace there would be if all the soldiers actually said to the leaders " fight your own battles , we are spending time with our families".

You joined the army to DEFEND your country not invade others on inconclusive evidence of terrorists coming from there.Let their own forces deal with it.

What you need is a few more troops turning round and saying " These orders are illegal", stop hiding behind your 'rules and regulations' , yes people will say you joined the military to fight, but you didnt join to die for someone elses gain, you joined to defend your families , your country and your way of life. You need a few more, scratch that a LOT more soldiers turning round and saying " I won't fight".
Honour yes, duty yes, stupidity no, blind obedience definately NOT.



[edit on 1/12/09 by DataWraith]

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
Why didn't they just send the big boys in there in the first place?
If they did we might not be there today.
Am I wrong or am I missing something here??
I thought the idea of war was to win??

Excuse any ignorance I show on this matter.

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DrumsRfun]

[edit on 1-12-2009 by DrumsRfun]

The big question is, what is Victory? What will we win? how will we win it?
Is it worth winning?

Good questions.

There is nothing to win but bragging rights I guess,so its kind of pointless really.Or maybe they win over the Americans thirst for revenge for Sept 11....I am not really sure.
Is it worth winning??
I don't think so,its too much of a gamble sacrificing those lives for an administration that doesn't care about its people.(civilians and military)
How to win???
I don't even know why they are there but if I had to win a war then Marines would be my first choice to deploy.Are they not the toughest group in military?
I thought we were there looking for Osama....whatever happened to that excuse??

Touchy subject to say the least.

reply to post by DataWraith


Well ignoring an order just gets you thrown in the brig... refuse to fight while in combat and you just might find yourself summarily executed in the field, don't think that's happened since WW II but it has happened... truth is once the shooting starts it's not about the rights and wrongs should we be there or not... it's about staying alive and you shoot back...

it just doesn't get any simpler that that... we protest with a votes for new leadership... we don't turn rouge when the lives of your brother Marines are at stake too... you'd have had to been there done that to understand how close you become to these people... they become more than family...

I'm not putting down your point of view... on paper it looks fine... real life however, is very different than on paper...

reply to post by DaddyBare


Yes on paper its fine, but all ideas begin with a thought and blueprints BEGIN on paper , the hard part is building the end result.

How many brigs do you have over there? please understand I'm certainly not disrespecting any military person, but if you all turned round ( it WOULD have to be a concerted effort on ALL of your parts) how many of you could they put in the brigs? certainly not all of you, but the real problem you all have is that your more scared of your leaders than you are of your enemies in another land, and that makes them more of a terrorist than your foreign enemy, they are using your terror to win your obedience aren't they?.
Your leaders call you cowards and threaten you with fines and jail if you refuse your 'orders' but if you all did it at the same time? what would or could they do to you all?
There have been stories where a singular soldier has disobeyed orders and has been jailed or simply deserted , but I hope you can see my point.
The real trouble is is its one at a time arguing the case, you'd need a united front to secure real victory.

[edit on 1/12/09 by DataWraith]

reply to post by DataWraith


But its never going to be a unified front... there are those who don't care about politics or moral objections... more of them than you think... its all about the mission, nothing else... do you job and get back in one piece...

for you and I to sit at our computers and argue the merits or defying orders is all academic. once they put that rifle in your hands things change...

I would never do it because they would just pull me off the line... Lots of young men need my experience and training to keep them alive just as I need them to do what I tell them so I stay alive...

you want want real change don't look to the Marines or any other branch of service... do it the right way oust the people who sent us there... I'll vote for that, but I wont turn my back on my brother Marines

reply to post by DaddyBare


Fair play to you friend.
Lets just hope one day we'll have peace on Earth.

reply to post by DaddyBare


All I can do as a normal American man, is wish these brave souls a safe return.

As much as I oppose this action, I can't overturn it. so please, return safely.

Semper Fi, do or die, gung ho!

Well, this is a fine Merry Christmas to our troops. I will always support our troops no matter what. However, I do not support Obama's strategy in Afghanistan. It would seem that everyone knows what is going on there but him. This is not a conventional war in a conventional theater.

I just found out that an old buddy of mine just received his first Purple Heart in Afghanistan due to injuries received from an IED a couple of months ago. Sadly, others in his unit died from the same blast. Their deaths kept him alive and kept him in Afghanistan to fight another day.

Trickling 30000 troops into this region while in the same breath announcing when you plan to leave is certainly sending a bizarre message to our enemies.

I say either bring everyone home and let the air force permanently change the landscape of the entire area or get out and let the Taliban surface like cockroaches in the night. Call in the airstrikes.

reply to post by jibeho


Well to answer... he is sending in the Marines and really there isn't that many of us... two things to know about the Marines... the first is it doesn't take a congressional order to send in the Marines... the president can send us solely at his discretion... Secondly by law there can never be more than 250,000 of us... there is a bill before the Senate to raise the number to 350,000... we are meant to be a quick strike force and that's what we train for... need something more protracted you send in the Army... that's their job... So with all the nasty little police actions we have in this day and age, plus needing to keep a ready reactionary force in case yet another trouble spot requires a quick response from Uncle Sam's Misguided Children (USMC) there just isn't that many of us for him to send in... it's always been that way and we know it...

[edit on 2-12-2009 by DaddyBare]