BERLETIC REPORTS: Why is the US Deploying a Marine Expeditionary Unit Amid War on Iran?

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Brian Berletic
THE NEW ATLAS

Day 17: Why is the US Deploying a Marine Expeditionary Unit Amid War on Iran?

The New Atlas
Mar 16, 2026 Eurasia/Middle East

• The US is sending a US Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) including the USS Tripoli with 2,500 Marines, F-35 warplanes, V-22 Osprey, and transport helicopters;
  Out of 2,500 Marines, only 1,200 are part of a ground combat element, the rest are spread across air combat elements, command, logistics, and other supporting roles;
  The MEU could participate in the seizure of Kharg Island and other critical facilities, board and seize ships, sink ships, augment US regional air power with its F-35 warplanes, or augment US regional missile forces with its compliment of HIMARS and ATACMS/PrSM munitions;
  The MEU poses a threat to the shipping of energy to China Iran is reportedly allowing through the Strait of Hormuz specifically because of its anti-shipping capabilities created under the Biden administration specifically for war with China.

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Day 19: US Burning Through Munitions Amid Gamble to Topple Iran, Cut China Off From Oil with 1 War

The New Atlas

Mar 18, 2026 Eurasia/Middle East

• The US has burned through huge quantities of high-end weapons on Iran it had been stockpiling for war it sought to provoke with China in the Asia-Pacific;

• The US not only likely never had enough weapons for a war with China, but it will be unable to even replace what it has spent on Iran for years to come;

• The US war on Iran is thus likely an attempt to reduce or remove 2 obstacles to US primacy with one war, degrading or toppling Iran and the imposition of a global maritime oil blockade on China at its source (US capture of Venezuela, US strikes on Russian energy production, and now the incremental shutdown of energy exports from the Middle East);

• The US likely hopes it can emerge from the global economic crisis it is creating “stronger” relative to China.

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