"There's not much enemy left in Iraq but there's plenty of enemy here to be dealt with," Marine Commandant General James Conway told more than 100 Marines at Bagram Air Base Tuesday.

Conway, in Afghanistan for a few days to meet troops in the field, has often said in the past year that the service could not fight a protracted war on two fronts and has made overtures to war planners to shift the bulk of his Marines from Iraq's Anbar province to Afghanistan.

Despite his calls mostly falling of deaf ears, the Pentagon is looking into a surge of troops to pound out Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters -- a plan that could include Marines.

However, Conway points out that such a move would stretch his service.

With 24,000 Marines currently in Iraq, and 3,400 in Afghanistan, the Corps would be hard pressed to send any more to either battlefield.

Although its Afghanistan troops are set to return home in October, the Pentagon this month extended the deployment of 1,250 Marines who are training Afghan police in the southern and western parts of the country, for 30 days until November.

It had previously extended to November the deployment of a 2,200-member Marine expeditionary unit fighting in the south.

Unless Marines start to drawdown in Iraq soon, there will not be any more to replace them in Afghanistan's volatile south once they leave, Conway told AFP. "There is no plan," said Conway, who was adamant his current trip to Afghanistan would not directly play into any future strategy. However, his trip comes as Washington increasingly turns its attention to the Taliban.

"There's a discussion underway only. If the decision is made to replace them, what we will insist on is that it be a full-up capacity," he said.

If Marines are tapped for a larger role in Afghanistan, they will most likely deploy as a Marine Air Ground Task Force, Conway said.

Such a unit is self-sustaining in that it would be in charge of its own air, artillery and logistics, and can range anywhere from 2,300 troops to upwards of 40,000 depending upon its combat role.

"We don't want another force in there that isn't fully adaptive for what we think we're going to face," Conway said.

Pentagon planners need also to take into account the time needed to prepare troops for deployment, Conway said.

"Say this draw-down [in Iraq] works and Marines are made free, then we've got to train Marines for Afghanistan as opposed to going to Iraq. That takes time. That takes four or five months," he said, adding it would also take time to get equipment in place.

A decision on the Marines' role in Afghanistan will likely be made after Multi-National Force-Iraq Commander, General David Petraeus returns to the US in September to brief President George W. Bush and military leaders, Conway said.

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