Marines on the Moon

Gen. James Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, told a Pentagon press briefing on Tuesday that he strongly disagreed with a U.S. Central Command directive that the infrastructure in Afghanistan needs beefing up before more troops can be sent there.

The Marines plan to deploy 7,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next few months, and Conway said the Marines can do so without extra infrastructure.

Expeditionary warfare is the Marines stock in trade, he said, and the Corps can carry out its mission with purely organic assets.

These assets -- along with the ability to do more with less that I know all too well -- will require the Marines to live and operate on what "everyone else considers moonscape," Conway said.