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US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

reuters.com

11–20 of 34 posts

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#11
post #7

It's wild that people were forecasting this last night because troops were posting photos of lobster dinners.

It is a bit similar to Vietnam in that it is a step-wise increase of committed troops. Whoever is really planning this war, is now pushing for more and more "boots on the ground". It is almost as if Trump does not even have any other choice now. Reminds people of Putin - Putin is also stuck in the war against Ukraine.

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#12
post #3

A war with no objective, no timeline, not authorized by congress, inflicting massive damage to the national and world economy, and the executive going cap in hand begging for more borrowed money to run it.

Trump's always admired Putin, and now just like Putin, he's also entered his own quagmire... Retreating isn't even a viable option, as far as I understand, an angry Iranian regime will keep disrupting the region, so now Trump's only option is to escalate.

Too bad the whole world has to sit and watch itself get fucked...

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#13

What I don't understand is that the talk on this concerns marines going through the Strait of Hormuz to then annex the Iranian terminals on Kharg Island. Now, I know marines are kind of into doing water things, but the USA owns the GCC countries, and I think Iraq was conquered a little while ago. So why can't a different route be taken? Can't they just drive across the desert from the country known as Israel? Or from…

They're probably going to do an aerial insertion via helicopter (Ospreys technically), which doesn't require transiting Hormuz. These big amphibious assault ships are built for both maritime and aerial insertions.

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#14

What I don't understand is that the talk on this concerns marines going through the Strait of Hormuz to then annex the Iranian terminals on Kharg Island. Now, I know marines are kind of into doing water things, but the USA owns the GCC countries, and I think Iraq was conquered a little while ago. So why can't a different route be taken? Can't they just drive across the desert from the country known as Israel? Or from…

Well, I think going to some small island is easier than organising land-based movement. If you look at the area in the last 25 years or so, ambushing a truck carrying cargo is much easier compared to, say, intercepting para-troopers if prior air raids leveled the ground. But I think this "invading Kharg" is a red herring; it seems primarily to try to persuade the US population that boots on the ground must happen. Or it is a probe for minimal involvement, but then the question is ... why would they only want to occupy a small island? Even assuming Iran would not do anything, what does that actually achieve? The USA withdrew from Afghanistan too, so everyone now knows one can try to wait it out. Meanwhile the energy prices will go up in many countries. It is not clear to me why I should have to pay more money due to Trump and his superrich buddies.

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#15
post #3

A war with no objective, no timeline, not authorized by congress, inflicting massive damage to the national and world economy, and the executive going cap in hand begging for more borrowed money to run it.

Trump's always admired Putin, and now just like Putin, he's also entered his own quagmire... Retreating isn't even a viable option, as far as I understand, an angry Iranian regime will keep disrupting the region, so now Trump's only option is to escalate. Too bad the whole world has to sit and watch itself get fucked...

Retreating is a viable option for the US. The world will return to the status quo in a week or three, and he will look every bit the fool that he is.

Nobody wants to get involved when Iran is fighting back against US aggression. The world would get a lot more interested in doing so if it were just conducting unprovoked, unilateral piracy in the straight.

Withdrawal is a viable option for everyone but the man who started it.

Congress can end this any time by not paying for this shit.

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#17

What I don't understand is that the talk on this concerns marines going through the Strait of Hormuz to then annex the Iranian terminals on Kharg Island. Now, I know marines are kind of into doing water things, but the USA owns the GCC countries, and I think Iraq was conquered a little while ago. So why can't a different route be taken? Can't they just drive across the desert from the country known as Israel? Or from…

Well, marines are usually delivered to a target area by ship. You can get the marines to the coast of the Persian Gulf by air or by car or whatever, but how do you get them to Kharg Island? It has to be either air or ship. And if it's going to be ship, you have to get the landing ship there. If it's not already in the Gulf, then it has to come through Hormuz.

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#18
post #16
post #4

If only they had given him a Nobel Peace Prize .....

America already proved 20 years back chasing WMDs that they dont need a Donald Trump to pull mindless shit. Its like a Leeroy Jenkins society.

That was never mindless if you look at it from the perspective of Cheney's friends at Halliburton. We'd be inclined to think the opposite really if US military absorbs all the risks and costs and they absorb the profits.

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#19
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but the hospital ship is in Greenland, providing free health care to people who already have public healthcare. https://apnews.com/article/greenland-trump-denmark-us-b2624b...

actually it is in Oregon. ] https://gcaptain.com/trumps-greenland-hospital-ship-arrives-...

Marine Traffic: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:45... (IMO: 7390454)

Re: US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

#20
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump's always admired Putin, and now just like Putin, he's also entered his own quagmire... Retreating isn't even a viable option, as far as I understand, an angry Iranian regime will keep disrupting the region, so now Trump's only option is to escalate. Too bad the whole world has to sit and watch itself get fucked...

Retreating is a viable option for the US. The world will return to the status quo in a week or three, and he will look every bit the fool that he is. Nobody wants to get involved when Iran is fighting back against US aggression. The world would get a lot more interested in doing so if it were just conducting unprovoked, unilateral piracy in the straight. Withdrawal is a viable option for everyone but the man who star…

I don't know, in my scenario, Iran will keep attacking the Middle Eastern countries, angering them enough to yell at Trump to fix the shit he's started. But maybe China could get them to stop...

But this is amateur geopolitics commentary (A great quote about Internet commentariat when the Russian invasion started was "Last week I was an epidemiologist, this week I'm a geopolitical expert!")

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