Why the US is sending 2,500 marines to the Gulf – and what they might do there
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While US President Donald Trump is trying to convince his allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, he is also sending 2,500 marines to the region – the first deployment of US troops since Israel began attacking Iran on February 28.
The deployment is “a major military operation,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, who spent three decades in the US Marine Corps.
Cancian says the US appears to realize that “bombing alone” cannot fully protect commercial vessels from Iranian drones and missiles, and that the military should have been ready soon.
Washington “should have started the navy before the war, so they will be there now, rather than waiting two weeks or more,” he told CBC News. Marines are expected in a few weeks from now.
Iran’s ability to choke traffic on the road, which is a route for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, has disrupted energy markets and helped drive oil prices above $100 US a barrel.
US President Donald Trump wants NATO countries to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, warning the intergovernmental military alliance of a ‘very dire’ future if they do not follow his country’s lead. Iran has maintained tight control over the key shipping port after being attacked by a US-Israeli bombing campaign that began in late February.
What the military can do
The soldiers are part of a rapid response force based in Japan, Cancian said. The unit includes approximately 2,500 marines, built around an army that is supported by artillery, vehicles and operational units.
Once there, the marines could be used in a number of ways – but Cancian says their most likely role is to help reopen the current, perhaps by seizing small islands near shipping lanes and setting up air defense systems.
“That creates a dome or a bubble in a certain part of the road that helps the convoys to protect themselves,” he said.
The effort is likely to involve multiple branches of the US military.
“It could be naval vessels escorting convoys, marines on the ground and aircraft flying overhead,” as well as a cyber element, Cancian said.
Another possibility would be the capture of Kharg Island, an Iranian oil field that the US struck over the weekend.
Cancian says taking the island “would be a big deal,” but that the Marines are likely to focus on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has vowed to retaliate for the Kharg attack by attacking US targets across the United Arab Emirates.
