Try to think of a Marine as a resource, a tool (not trying ot be offensive.) When applied to the correct siuation under the correct circumstances, performance is exceptional. When applied to an innapropriate situation, your output may be much different than wahat was expected. Pretty much think of Marines as the few guys in our society that will go anywhere, do anything, and kill anyone they are directed to because that's what they exist for; that's what they're trained to do. That's limiting the scope of their abilities quite a bit, though I'll admit. After all their slogan is "no better friend, no worse enemy." Sounds good, but it kind of confounds me a bit. In the stage that Afghanistan is in an Iraq hopefully will arrive to, I don't think Marines are the best choice for nation building and peace keeping and when their used in such a way you get unexpected results such as the Generals comment.