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Up to 20,000 U.S. Marines could be deployed in Afghanistan as part of a planned major troop build-up to battle worsening insurgent violence, the top U.S. Marine officer said on Friday,
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway said any buildup of Marines in Afghanistan would have to be accompanied by an equivalent cut in the 22,000-strong Marine force in Iraq to maintain the corps' schedule of seven-month deployments.
U.S. military planners have proposed injecting up to 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to combat an intensifying insurgency from Taliban militants and other fighters.
The United States now has 34,000 troops in the country, including 2,200 Marines.
But Conway told reporters that sending too many Marines to Afghanistan could jeopardize the corps' ability to resume training in vital areas, including amphibious landings, after a hiatus of several years.
"We hope that the number is 20,000 or less," he said.
"The time is right for Marines in general terms to leave Iraq. It's very much a nation-building kind of environment that's taking place there," he said.
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