Sigonella: Marines in Sicily for Libya, the Next Iraq

The arrival in Sigonella of Ospreys, those unusual flying machines that are neither airplanes nor helicopters, has rightly aroused excitement and a bit of uneasiness. It is a terrible sign of what is brewing at Italy’s front door, certainly in Libya, but also elsewhere in the boiling cauldron that is Northern Africa today.

With the Ospreys of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365, some Marines also arrived from the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force, Crisis Response. A unit was transferred here at the beginning of April from the U.S. air base in Moron de la Frontera to serve as an immediate intervention unit for the United States Africa Command.

The key words that explain the responsibilities of this unit are “crisis response.” In practice, it is a unit whose job is to be ready for departure to areas in need with little notice. The relocation from the base in Spain to the one in Sicily is an indisputable sign that Washington anticipates an explosion of violence near Libya soon, one that will demand aggressive intervention and in the early phases will probably call for an alleged Noncombatant Evacuation Operation in order to begin evacuating the country’s civilians. What happens next, no one knows.

The area is becoming a hotbed that threatens to ignite the entire southern shore of the Mediterranean. Mali is merely two paces away, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is strong and active in the entire region, and the shattering of Libya after the salvific bombings two years ago is creating a completely ungovernable situation.

An Iraq at Italy’s doorstep: This is what is becoming of Libya after the “victorious” war that began two years ago, the one Italians considered a “win” (but for whom?) and that only today is revealing its true nature. Besides, the many years of the Iraq campaign began in the same way: with the announcement of victory by George W. Bush from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Mission accomplished. It was May 1, 2003. When the Americans retreated eight years later, they left on the battlefield more than 4,000 dead, over 32,000 wounded and an unknown number of civilian victims, certainly more than 100,000, perhaps 200,000. And the slain Italians, the British, the contractors. Mission accomplished.

There has been quite a bit of confusion these days concerning the size of the U.S. Marine Corps based in Sigonella and their mission. Because indeed, for quite some time, an SP-MAGTF 13 in Sigonella has consisted of about 180 men. It is a composite unit, not permanent, that is made up from time to time of Marine personnel in the Reserve. The present unit was activated at the base in Sicily on Jan. 10, 2013 (the title number indicates the year of activation; there has also been an SP-MAGTF 11, a 12.1, 12.2, etc.). Their mission, however, is not prompt intervention, but to train and unite the armed forces of various African countries. Recently it has been in Burundi, Ghana, Senegal and elsewhere.

A completely different story about the SP-MAGTF CR is that, despite having an almost identical name, it is a combat unit destined to perform offensive actions in situations of conflict even at high intensities. Crisis response, emergency intervention. According to media sources, this unit was transferred from Moron de la Frontera at the beginning of April based on a one-year authorization granted by the Spanish government. There are not 500 new Marines in Sigonella, as it was written — there are 500 men deployed in Moron — but a couple hundred. However, it is not the number that is significant: Rather, by whom and when was this authorized?

Nothing is known about who did the authorizing, for how much time and with what limitations the subsequent Marine deployments will be in Sicily. It is clear that the move is a prelude to short-term operational use. Was this discussed when Secretary of State Kerry came to Rome? The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emma Bonino, speaks of agreements — but when? Between whom? Were protocols signed? Under the agreements that are in effect, the base in Sigonella can be used routinely for training activities of the U.S. forces, and all operations will be subject to a specific accord. Judging from the embarrassment with which the Italian government responded to the circulation of news about the U.S. task force, it seems that they were presented with a fait accompli or something similar. Moreover, the compliance (or is it servility?) of Italy’s political and military leaders toward Uncle Sam is well known. Was it not Di Paola in 2005, shortly before the elections that narrowly brought Romano Prodi into government, who said during a meeting with American diplomats that it is necessary to have both hands free so that new agreements can be quickly made regarding the Sicilian base prior to the arrival of a center-left government?