Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.03.2016, Qupperneq 14

By PAUL FONTAINE
Early in February, news reached Ice-
landers that American troops were
coming back to Iceland after a ten-year
absence. While the truth of the matter is
not as dramatic, we did not learn about
this from our Prime Minister, or any
other government official, for that mat-
ter—we learned it from Icelandic trans-
lations of an article in Stars & Stripes,
the media wing of the US military.
Here is what we know: a hangar
at the location previously used as the
NATO base in Keflavík will be reno-
vated and expanded to accommodate
a P-8 Poseidon, the successor to the
sub-hunting P-3 Orion aircraft once
stationed at the base. Some additional
US military personnel will also arrive.
Their specific mission will be to con-
duct patrols of the North Atlantic in
search of Russian submarines, which
have reportedly increased their pres-
ence in the region.
This does not sound particularly
ominous, but the lack of communica-
tion and discussion did not kick things
off well. Even Prime Minister Sigmun-
dur Davíð Gunnlaugsson himself ad-
mitted he learned
about the Ameri-
cans’ plans from
the news. The abrupt
surprise of the announce-
ment has contributed to
suspicions that the US
military has other plans
in store. But there are also
the somewhat cryptic statements of an
unnamed US Navy official, who told
Stars and Stripes that, in their words,
the Navy “could eventually create a
permanent patrol mission at the base
[…] which would likely resemble the Na-
vy’s maritime patrol force at its air base
in Sigonella, Sicily, where squadrons ro-
tate out every six months.”
The official did not specify to what
extent the Keflavík base could “re-
semble” the one in Sigonella, but the
Sigonella base is home to thousands of
soldiers, their families, and other per-
sonnel.
In the wake of all this, Minister of
Foreign Affairs Gunnar Bragi Sveins-
son has been engaging in damage con-
trol, both in the Icelandic media and
with the foreign press. He has repeat-
edly emphasised that the news does not
herald the reformation of a permanent
NATO base in Iceland, downplaying
concerns as being politically motivated
and originating almost entirely from
the left-wing establishment in Iceland.
For the time being, we only have the
word of the US military and our elected
officials when it comes to the future of
the base. As tensions between Russia
and NATO increase, Iceland’s strategic
position may have a greater part to play
in the conflict. What the future holds
for Iceland’s part in NATO is, as always,
murky at best. It is, however, somewhat
certain that Icelandic politicians may
take the backlash to heart, and handle
the flow of information better, if they
hope to reassure the general public that
there truly is nothing to hide.
SHARE: gpv.is/army
The photos in this
feature are all by
Reykjavík-based
photographer
Bragi Thor from his
project 'Iceland
Defence Force'.
This project has
been published as
a book of the same
name, available
in bookstores
in Iceland, but
the images are
also currently
on display at the
Reykjanesbær Art
Museum, Duus-
gata 2-8, 230
Reykjanesbær.
We suggest you
check out both.
Thanks to Katerina
Kochkina, type-
face designer, for
allowing us to use
her unpublilshed
typeface Samsa
for the headline in
the main feature
The US Army
Is Returning
To Iceland