Norway's all but certain decision to allow United States Marines to rotate out of one of its military bases is being seen by Russian military analysts as further proof of the United States so-called "Anaconda Strategy" that first seeks to isolate Russia and then choke it into impotence with overwhelming U.S. and NATO military power.

Like Us on Facebook

The manifestations of this strategy are the U.S.' insistence on establishing a string of military bases along Russia's vast border with NATO.

Russians are also alarmed the recent NATO exercise in Poland named "Exercise Anakonda 2016" was one of the largest NATO-U.S. exercises yet and involved over 31,000 troops. This exercise held last June saw the participation of soldiers from Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The deployment of U.S. Marines to a base 1,000 km from Norway's border with Russia is alarming Russia as this is the first time since the World War II that foreign troops will be stationed on Norwegian soil. The last foreign troops to base in Norway were men of Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht or armed forces.

While a mere 300 Marines will rotate through the Vaernes Air Station near the port city of Trondheim in central Norway, this innocuous deployment is still part of the "Anaconda Plan," claims Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, President of the Academy of Geopolitical Studies and a former Member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

"In their anti-Russian military policy Americans are using the 'Anaconda Strategy.' They deploy a network of military bases along the entire perimeter of Russia's borders, launching numerous military drills and so on," said Gen. Ivashov.

Gen. Ivashov said Norway "is now set to become one the Anaconda's coils. We should not forget that Norway is located near Russia's Northern Fleet bases.

"Norway is an active participant in the Arctic process. And a powerful military stand-off is developing there."

Like its namesake, the aim of America's Anaconda Strategy is to strangle Russia, thereby removing the only credible threat to American hegemonism.

Gen. Ivashov's views are similar to that of Andrei Koshkin, a political scientist and head of the political science department of the Russian Economic University.

"There is an attempt to make an anaconda coil in this region by deploying deterrent military political forces who will be able to neutralize Russia along the Arctic contact line," said Koshkin.

"The US has put its boots on Norway's ground with the purpose of boosting the activity of Western states on the border with Russia in the Arctic, to be able then to squeeze Russia out of that region."

TagsUnited States, Russia, Norway, NATO, Anaconda Strategy, Exercise Anakonda 2016, Colonel General Leonid Ivashov