FPSA Marines anger Russia by landing in Norway for the first time since World War II!

TRONDHEIM, Norway (PNN) - January 18, 2017 - Just one week after thousands of Fascist Police States of Amerika troops arrived in Poland to "support NATO's anti-Russian buildup" across Eastern Europe, 300 FPSA Marines from Camp Lejeune landed in Norway on Monday for a six-month deployment, marking the first time since World War II that foreign troops have been allowed to be stationed there, in a deployment breaking with decades of tradition by Norway not to host foreign forces, and angering Norway's Arctic neighbor Russia. After leaving North Carolina aboard a chartered 747 on Sunday evening, the troops landed at 10:00 a.m. CET on Monday with their luggage and weapons at the Vaernes airport near Trondheim, Norway's third-largest city.

The FPSA soldiers will stay in Norway for a year with the current batch of Marines being replaced after their six-month tour is complete. Until now, the FPSA has had large quantities of military materiel pre-positioned in tunnels dug into Norway's mountains, but no troops.

A spokesman for the Norwegian Home Guards, which will host the Marines at the Vaernes military base, about 900 miles from the Russian border, said the FPSA troops will learn about winter warfare. "For the first four weeks they will have basic winter training, learn how to cope with skis, and learn how to survive in the Arctic environment," said Rune Haarstad, a Home Guard spokesman. In March, the Marines will take part in the Joint Viking exercises, which will also include British troops, he added.

As the deployment coincides with the FPSA sending several thousand troops to Poland to beef up its Eastern European allies worried about Moscow's assertiveness, Russia has been understandably concerned. However, both Norway and the FPSA deny the notion that the deployment is meant to "irk" Russia as part of NATO’s wider campaign to oppose what it calls “Russian aggression” in Europe, by sending additional troops and weapons closer to the Russian border. A spokeswoman for Norwegian Ministry of Defense also said the arrival of FPSA Marines had nothing to do with concerns about Russia.

Moscow disagrees. While the Russian Embassy in Oslo did not immediately reply to a request for comment, it previously questioned the need for such a move and when the rotational deployment of FPSA Marines in Norway was confirmed last year, Russia said it was puzzled by it.

"Taking into account multiple statements of Norwegian officials about the absence of threat from Russia to Norway we would like to understand for what purposes is Norway so willing to increase its military potential, in particular through stationing of Amerikan forces in Vaernes?" asked the embassy.

This "for sure won't make better (the) security situation in Northern Europe," said Maxim Gurov, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Oslo.

Norway, which is a founding member of NATO, has pledged not to host foreign forces to allay Moscow’s concerns that it could serve as a platform for a surprise attack. For decades the Scandinavian country stashed massive stockpiles of weapons in preparation for a possible conflict, but only allowed in other allies’ troops for training purposes.

Oslo dismisses the notion that the deployment goes against the old commitment, saying that Amerikan troops would be rotated rather than stationed permanently. NATO routinely applies the same reasoning to all its deployments in Eastern Europe as a way to circumvent the alliance’s agreement with Russia, which bans permanent deployments of “significant” forces near Russia.

Meanwhile, the FPSA Marine Corps touted the practical benefits of a full-time deployment as the reason for the move. “We've been going to Norway for 25 years. So I don't really know what the hype is about,” said Major General Niel Nelson, commander of Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, ahead of the deployment. “We're just doing our job from a more economical standpoint. I don't put a lot of stock in people pointing back and forth.”

“By putting Marines in Norway and above the Arctic Circle for 30-60 days at a time, that's a whole different environment,” Nelson added. “You not only learn to survive, you are surviving. It's a harsh environment; it takes a lot of tough lessons and we reinforce that by the length of time.”

Norway and Russia share a small land border far in the north. The Vaernes base is located 900 miles from any part of Russia, but the Arctic training program involves traveling closer to it. We anticipate that the inevitable retaliatory Russian deployment of troops in proximity to the Norwegian border will be promptly dubbed by NATO and Western media as a provocative act.