The Marines will be headed to Afghanistan:
The Pentagon is preparing to send at least 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan in April to bolster efforts to hold off another expected Taliban offensive in the spring, military officials said Wednesday.
The move represents a shift in Pentagon thinking that has been slowly developing after months of repeated insistence that the U.S. was not inclined to fill the need for as many as 7,500 more troops that commanders have asked for there. Instead, Defense Secretary Robert Gates pressed NATO allies to contribute the extra forces.
Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that a proposal will go before Gates on Friday that would send a ground and air Marine contingent as well as a Marine battalion — together totaling more than 3,000 forces — to southern Afghanistan for a "one-time, seven-month deployment."
I'm assuming this means a Marine Expeditionary Unit and a separate rifle battalion. They would deploy to blunt any attempted Taliban offensive next spring and then leave the theater.
I've often held that when we look for allies to fight with our Army, our Marines have always been the most reliable fighting force to always show up.
