Pentagon Extends Tours Of Duty For Marines In Afghanistan

Lolita C Baldor, AP: The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is doing combat operations in the volatile south, will stay an extra 30 days and come home in early November rather than October, Marine Col. David Lapan confirmed Thursday.

Military leaders as recently as Wednesday stressed the need for additional troops in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen (pictured), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has often praised the work of the 24th MEU in fighting Taliban militants in Helmand Province.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, has repeatedly said he did not intend to extend or replace the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, calling their deployment there an extraordinary, one-time effort to help tamp down the increasing violence in the south.

Asked about the possibility of an extension in early May, Gates said he would "be loathe to do that." He added that "no one has suggested even the possibility of extending that rotation." ...

LSB: Color me cynical, but whenever I read "the war in Afghanistan" (or "the war in Iraq") and "November" in the same article, I wonder how the Bush administration is going to toy with the emotions of our fighting men and women in the pursuit of their election strategy. How will this homecoming be manipulated for election gains - or am I just being cyncial?