US Marines stand alert in Garmser, southern Helmand province, in May 2008. June was the deadliest month for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 fall of the Taliban and the second in a row in which casualties exceeded those in Iraq, official figures have shown.(AFP/File/Massoud Hossaini)
AP - The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time. |