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.
As Iran escalates attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, the US says it hopes to be able to get the ships moving again. Nationally, CBC’s Lyndsay Duncombe explains why reopening the vital waterway won’t be as easy, quick or safe as the White House wants.
Why is it so difficult to defend the strait?
Even a major military effort may struggle to fully secure the strait, which is about 33 kilometers wide at its narrowest point – forcing ships to pass close to Iranian territory.
Iranian forces can take advantage of islands off the mountainous coast to launch attacks, and Iran has an array of inexpensive weapons that can threaten a ship, including drones, small attack boats and sea mines.
Cancian says drones are more common, although they carry small explosives.
“They can damage a warship, but it will not sink,” he said.
The biggest threat comes from anti-ship cruise missiles, which carry very large warheads capable of sinking ships.
Will 2,500 be enough?
Not according to Cancian. He says sending 2,500 Marines is “not enough,” and that “it would be good to have other countries help.”
Trump is appealing to countries that buy oil on the road for aid.
“They should come and they should help us protect it,” the president said on Monday. “You can make the case that maybe we don’t exist at all because we don’t need them. We have a lot of oil.”
Several have expressed reluctance to risk escalating the war, with others making the same case as Trump that they don’t need to be there.
“We have an unprovoked, unprovoked situation,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. “We will not be everywhere to support a war we did not start.”
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, put it in different words, saying that Britain will protect its people and power in the region, but “will not enter a full-scale war.”
Starmer added that the UK would prioritize “a quick decision that restores security and stability to the region.
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz has raised questions about whether the Trump administration had considered the consequences of oil shipments before attacking Iran.
Cancian says someone must have known the risks “because the Navy had been doing this for 40 years — and it’s amazing to me that they weren’t ready.”
