The United States may send as many as 9,000...
The extra Marines will be the first to move into Afghanistan as part of Obama"s escalation of the eight-year-old war. They will double the size of the U.S. force in the southern Helmand province and will provide a critical test for Afghan President Hamid Karzai"s struggling government, the paper said.
"The first troops out of the door are going to be Marines. We"ve been leaning forward in anticipation of a decision. And we"ve got some pretty stiff fighting coming," the paper quoted Gen. James T. Conway, the Corps" top officer, as saying.
The Marines are expected to be followed by about 1,000 U.S. Army trainers. They will be deployed as early as February to speed the growth of the Afghan army and police force, military officials told the paper.
The new forces, however, will not start moving until Obama outlines his new strategy in a speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., on Tuesday, the paper said.