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US to send 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan

Kabul hails troops boost

AP, AFP, Washington
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 US was not inclined to fill the need for as many as 7,500 more troops that commanders have asked for there. Instead, Defence Secretary
"At present we need foreign forces to maintain peace and security. We welcome the increase in numbers and facilities of the troops," ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP
Robert Gates pressed Nato allies to contribute the extra forces.
Afghanistan welcomed yesterday the possible deployment of 3,000 additional US Marines to counter an expected Taliban spring offensive but insisted the long-term solution is to boost Afghan forces.
The defence ministry said more international troops are needed to battle the extremist militia, which is believed to be preparing to launch a broad offensive as soon as the wintersnowsmelt.
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 totalling more than 3,000 forces to southern Afghanistan for a "onetime, seven-month deployment."
Gates, he said, will want to review the request, and is not likely to make a final decision on Friday.
"He will take it and consider it thoroughly before approving it," said Morrell. "I just want to get people away from the idea that this is going to be imminently approved by the secretary."
He said Gates "has some more thinking to do on this matter because it's a serious allocation of forces."
Morrell added that Gates' thinking on the issue has "progressed a bit" over time as it became clear that it was politically untenable for many of the Nato nations to contribute more combat troops to the fight
"The commanders need more forces there. Our allies are not in the position to provide them. So we are now looking at perhaps carrying a bit of that additional load," the spokesman said.
Morrell said the move, first reported Wednesday by ABC News, was aimed at beating back "another Taliban offensive" that is expected this spring ashas occurred in previous years