Approximately 300 US marines deploy to Helmand key southern Afghan province

(April 19)About 300 U.S. marines are already en route to Afghanistan to help Afghan troops keep more Afghan territory from falling under the control of the Taliban in Helmand province in the south of the country.

Add

The II Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune North Carolina will travel to Afghanistan. This will be the largest Marine deployment to the country since 2014 when the U.S. combat mission known as Operation Enduring Freedom wound down and officially ended. The Marines will be in Helmand province by the end of April, as Task Force Southwest. They will be replacing the Army's Task Force Forge. The Marines will be charged with training the Afghan National Army's 215th Corps as well as the 505th zone National Police. They will train them in marksmanship, indirect fire, small-unit tactics as well as other skills according to officials.

As more U.S. troops become involved in Afghanistan, US casualties are bound to increase. In an apparent insider attack, three U.S. soldiers were shot in March and in February a special forces soldier suffered severe injuries in battle. Colonel Matthew Reid noted in January: “Make no mistake, though we are no longer in a combat role in Afghanistan, it is still a combat environment. As Marines, we train and deploy with a combat mindset.” Although the mission is advisory it is quite possible that the group will find themselves involved in combat situations.General David Petraeus who led U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011 told the Marine Corps Times that the 300 Marines could make a difference in the province and could reverse the momentum in the battle with the Taliban. The province is astride the key Ring Road that connect the south and west of the country to the capital Kabbul.

The marines are returning to the province as security has become worse according to Peter Bergen, a military analyst and vice-president of the New America think tank. Bergen said that U.S. military commanders claim that the Taliban control or contest a third of the population of about ten million people. The Afghan troops have had soaring casualty rates as they engage with the Taliban. Bergen said that the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan should be open-ended with no arbitrary dates to withdraw troops:“I think that was one of the problems the Obama administration had: announcing withdrawals that came and went and really made no sense from any kind of point of view. They tended to undercut the government. They also, obviously, were really helpful to the morale of the Taliban.”

Much of the area that US troops captured three years ago including Sangin have been captured by the Taliban. Nearly 50 U.S. marines died fighting to capture Sangin. Caitline Forrest, an Afghan expert with the Institute for the Study of War said that the Taliban are now able to launch offensives against strategic cities such as Kandahar, Lashkar Gah and Tirin Kot.

Forest said that given the current strength of Afghan security forces and U.S. support it is unlikely that the Taliban will be militarily defeated and they will be unwilling to seek a political solution while they have the upper hand. The Taliban also demand that foreign troops leave Afghanistan before they will agree to a peace treaty. Forrest said: “They’re winning the war. They’re winning actual terrain and population control. They have no incentive to actually go to the table, especially as they are getting additional support from other malign regional actors, such as Russia and Iran.”

The U.S. has been stepping up its involvement in Afghanistan and recently dropped the huge Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on a series of caves and tunnels used by the Islamic State. The bombing was condemned by former Afghan president Hamid Karzai who called it an "an immense atrocity against the Afghan people." He claimed that the US is using Afghanistan as a testing ground for new weapons. Back in late March General Nicholson said that up to 5,000 more troops were needed in Afghanistan to break the stalemate with the Taliban. As shown on the appended video the first announcement about the Marine contingent was announced back in January.

About 300 U.S. marines to be based in Norway

The Norwegian government is considering allowing a contingent of about 300 U.S. marines to be based in the country in order to facilitate better military cooperation between the two countries and to be prepared in the event of a crisis involving Russia.

The marines would deploy on a six-month rotation, pending approval of the Norwegian government, after which additional rotations would follow. The U.S. already has crisis response teams for Africa, the Middle East and Japan.

A Norwegian newspaper reported that the Vaernes air base in Stjordal is being considered to house the marines. The air station is already serving as part of Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway. This program allows the Marine Corps to store thousands of vehicles and other military gear in caves that are temperature controlled. The vehicles are ready for joint exercises or any combat contingency. The base is far from Russia, about 1,000 miles — although in the extreme north Norway shares a 120 mile border with Russia.

Major General Niel Nelson, the commander of the U.S. Marine Corps in Europe and Africa, would confirm only that the possibility of the deployment was being considered:"We have a long and close relationship with our friends in the Norwegian Armed Forces, and a limited rotational Marine presence in Norway is one option being considered as a further development of this relationship. However, at this time, it would be premature to discuss possible implementation of such an initiative before the appropriate Norwegian political processes are completed."Local reports indicate that if approved, the first rotation of troops could arrive as soon as January. The Norwegian Ministry of Defense has supported the arrangement.

A report from Press TV says:“Assessments have taken place within the military to look at the options for additional training, storage and this kind of thing," said Norwegian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Ann Kristin Salbuvik on Monday.

The Norwegian deployment will be just one of many moves made by the U.S. to collaborate with EU allies. Last year, the Allied Maritime Basing Initiative began that placed a small number of U.S. marines on board French, Dutch and Spanish ships to better enable the marines to respond to crises and reassure partners against any Russian moves in eastern Europe. Just this July, U.S. Army officials revealed that it intends to create a division headquarters and artillery brigade in Europe in the coming years on a rotational basis. The move would add more than 40,000 additional soldiers to those already in Europe by next year. This is all part of what the Pentagon calls its "European Reassurance Initiative" that began in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimea.

The U.S. Marine Corps already operates a Black Sea Rotational Force in six month deployments of 500 marines that carries out partner exercises with eastern European countries to promote regional stability. This will continue regardless of what happens in Norway.

Earlier this year, almost 2,000 marines were in Trondheim Norway to take part in the exercise Cold Response. The exercise involved 16,000 troops from 15 different countries. General Robert Neller, Marine Commandant said: "We were working to repopulate our [pre-positioning equipment] in the caves, and the Norwegians were happy to see us, and I'm sure our Russian friends were paying attention. Mr. Putin has done us a great favor."

US marine charged with murder in the Philippines

Jeffrey Laude, aka Jenny, a transgender woman, was murdered in Olongapo City in the Philippines on October 11th. Olongapo City is near Subic Bay where US forces are stationed.

An initial report in the Marine Corps Times from an internal Naval memo gave few details: “Philippine police report a homicide occurred in a hotel room in Olongapo City on the night of 11 October.The victim was reported as a male Philippine national ... preliminary witness statements indicate U.S. military personnel may have been involved.” However, on October 15, local officials charged Private first Class Joseph Pemberton with the murder of Laude. The Philippine government later served five subpoenas on the US embassy in Manila. One was for Pemberton and the other four for witnesses.
The murder happens more than two decades after US forces were expelled from the Subic Bay base. However, US forces continue to visit on a rotating basis and the Philippine government is now considering a new agreement that would allow more US troops to rotate through the country. Retired US Air Force Colonel Carl Baker who is director of programs at the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies said: "The Philippines is really driven by public opinion. These type of incidents really have a big impact on how they view their relationship with the United States.”
 The night of her death Laude was said to be at the hotel or motel with a friend and a "foreigner". She was reported to be uneasy that the foreigner would find out that they were transgenders and asked the friend to leave before "the foreigner could discover they were transgenders". The autopsy showed that she died due to asphyxia by drowning. After her death photos surfaced showing her body leaning against a toilet, protests erupted among Filipino transgender rights activists. Some signs read "US troops out now". A police report called the murder a "hate crime".
 Some authorities claimed the incident is unlikely to have any significant longer term effect on Philippine US relations. The Philippines is anxious to have US support for claims to islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by China and several other countries.
 Unlike in some countries such as Afghanistan, US troops in the Philippines do not have immunity from prosecution in Philippine courts. However, there are aspects of the agreement that are already a sore point with many in the Philippines. The agreement allows the US to retain custody of its own military members when they are charged with crimes rather than turning them over to Philippine authorities. They can remain in US custody until found guilty. After Laude's murder, there were demands that Pemberton be surrendered to Philippine authorities.
 The issue surfaced in a 2006 case when four marines were charged with raping a Filipina. Not only were all four held in custody by the US but when a judge found one marine guilty and ordered him turned over to local authorities, the order was never executed. Eventually when the woman on appeal changed her testimony the Marine was acquitted of the charge.
 A new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed in April, that would see even more US military personnel rotate through the Philippines for the next decade but the agreement is being challenged before the Philippine Supreme Court. Philippine defense officials admit it may be several years yet before the agreement is enacted.
 Four witnesses who were summoned to appear at the Olongapo City Prosecutor's Office in connection with the murder already have left the Philippines according to the Philippine Dept. of Foreign Affairs. Charles Jose noted: “DFA was not informed by the US side that four witnesses were leaving the country. They are not required to do so” The US did give assurances that the witnesses will appear at the trial. In spite of the demands from protesters that Pemberton be kept in custody by Philippine authorities, the US Embassy in Manila said that it would keep Pemberton under US custody as was its right under the existing VFA. However, the Embassy also said that it would cooperate fully with Philippine authorities.
 There have been moves in the Philippine Congress to scrap the VFA. Miriam Santiago a prominent senator called for the VFA to be scrapped while others such as Herminio Coloma Jr., head of the presidential communications office said the government supported calls for the VFA to be reviewed.