This doesn't surprise me, the Marines have always HATED playing the role of international cop and dealing with the duties and requirements of an occupying force. Their desire to move all leathernecks to Afghanistan is due in no small part to the fact that Iraq is utterly devoid of major insurgent strongholds anymore and has been transformed into one giant police assignment. Hotbeds of resistance like Fallujah and Ramadi have been pacified to the point where they no longer require periodic or active campaigning. This is not to say that the insurgency has stopped or that things aren't incredibly dangerous but the climate over there has definitely changed in the last 6-12 months. The fact that many Shiite and Sunni factions who were previously hostile to US forces are now working with them so as to stop Al Qaeda's incessant meddling in their neighborhoods shows just how much the political landscape has changed over there.

From what little I know Marines don't like being assigned passive or defensive roles, especially in areas where the enemy deliberately avoids any kind of direct confrontation (i.e. Iraq where most insurgents spend all day hiding and planting IEDs). I recall an ex-tenant of mine, a former Marine Recon Sniper, who shared with me some of his exploits while he was in uniform. He recalled with absolute disgust the time he spent in Haiti when the Marines were deployed there in the previous decade. Security detail, doling out food and supplies. He and just about every other Marine in his unit (and for that matter, the entire force) hated the assignment with a passion and he specifically decried it as being 'Army work', etc.

Basically I think the Marines realize their chances at being able to take a more 'proactive' stance against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan are much greater than against the typical insurgent and Al Qaeda operative in Iraq.

Quote Originally Posted by Lemur
One thing you gotta credit the leathernecks with -- they've always been savvy when it comes to PR. There's a very good reason they never have a problem filling their recruiting quota.
Well most people who join the Marines aren't under the delusion that they'll never see combat. Usually the Army Reserve and National Guard gets the lion's share of people looking to pad their income or macho it up on occasion ('weekend warriors'). You simply don't get the same number of GI Bill applicants or welfare mothers in the Corps like you would in the Army, Army Reserve and National Guard. The Marines don't want those kinds of people and even if they do manage to make it in they're expected to adhere to the same standards as other grunts. I imagine the peer pressure to live up to certain expectations must also be enormous in the Marines.

Yes, Marine PR and advertising is quite good but oddly enough the best Marine PR is the news footage you see of Marines in action. In fact, I believe whenever there is a major engagement (i.e. Fallujah) that involves Marines their recruitment numbers increase as opposed to the Army's which typically decreases. It seems the typical potential Marine recruit isn't quite as spooked by the images of dead Marines as is his/her Army counterpart.