US Urgently Deploys Elite Counterterror Marines To Haiti To Protect Americans

The Pentagon has confirmed it is urgently deploying an elite counter-terror task force to bolster the American embassy in Haiti after armed gangs have taken over much of the capital of Port-au-Prince and the long-simmering situation is now boiling over, with violence spreading, also in the wake of embattled Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation Tuesday. Further there's a threat of a "mass migration" wave potentially inundating US coastal communities in places like Florida as a result.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced Wednesday that at the request of the State Department the elite Marine Fleet-Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST) has been deployed to the destabilized country to assist in embassy security.

Already for months there has been rising concern for US citizens still in the country, who have been urged by the embassy to immediately depart the Caribbean island-nation, as an utter state of lawlessness reins overseen by criminal warlords. The past years have witnessed a handful of kidnappings targeting Americans, including aid workers, and other foreign citizens.

"U.S. Southern Command is prepared with a wide range of contingency plans to ensure the safety and security of U.S. Citizens in Haiti," SOUTHCOM said in its statement. Not only will the FAST team assist the Marine embassy guard already in place to better secure the embassy in a scenario where it could come under attack, but it will reportedly help in the evacuation of non-essential American personnel.

The US military statement continued, "This week, the Department of Defense doubled our funding for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, and we are working with Haitian, Kenyan, and other partners to expedite its deployment to support the Haitian National Police and to restore security in Haiti."

The Haitian government recently approved the deployment of Kenyan peacekeeping troops as part of a UN-sponsored mission, but there are reports the plan is still stalled. This has been a long time in coming after the US and other countries refused to spearhead such an operation, given this have not gone well for US-led peacekeeping missions in Haiti in the recent past.

The FAST team deployment is typically the next logical step when an embassy comes under potential threat due to destabilizing and chaotic factors within a country. Warlords and rival gangs are not only fighting the police, but often each other as well, resulting in dangerous city 'no go zones' for the civilian population.

Interestingly, the State Department urgent request for the elite group comes immediately on the heels of a tense Congressional hearing wherein Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida grilled SOUTHCOM chief Gen, Laura Richardson yesterday.

Gaetz had asked Richardson whether the US government should "activate the authorities, anticipating a mass migration." She responded: "I think that we need to be postured appropriately for that. I have put in a request for increase capability to do exactly that. And we are ready if we need to deal with a mass migration."

However, if mass migratory throngs are unleashed and all hell breaks loose even further, the US government is going to need much more than a small detachment of security Marines to do the job.

Conditions in Haiti have been becoming increasingly dire in recent months due to widespread gang violence and civil unrest. Armed gangs now reportedly control around 80% of Port-au-Prince, and likely this is now growing by the day.