Marines, Uranium, and a Symbolic Win? || Mar. 18, 2026
Claims that the U.S. will end the war by seizing Iranian assets make no strategic sense. Targeting Kharg Island or removing the uranium from Isfahan with ground operations is just too risky.
These narratives are likely just a reflection of the U.S. searching for a symbolic win, rather than a practical military plan. But this conflict could be pushing Iran closer to nuclear armament. Iran's ability to quickly build a bomb wasn't enough deterrence, so building a bomb appears to be the only option left.
As the war escalates and moderates are sidelined (or killed), the Iran war will grow less coherent and much more dangerous.
Comments (48)
There is nothing moderate about the Iranian clerics. There were negotiations that led to nothing so their willingness to negotiate is moot
I would suggest that ad hominem is the tool of the fool, but you wouldn't understand me
I totally understand PZ's assessment that Marines on Kharg Island would be a lot of targets for Iran and a very bad move in general. But I've yet to see Trump make a logical decision based on factual information or advice. So for now I think I'm going to keep a square on my BINGO card for "Trump sends Marines into Kharg Island".
It's interesting that no one is calling out DTS in the comments anymore.
DTS?
Pretty sure we are sending the marines in to secure Hormoz, Larak, and Qeshm Islands so that we can own the SoH navigation but that is a tall order. I also suspect that we are letting imports and exports out of Iran to gain intelligence until we are ready to shut it all down. This is a game of escalating until negotiations can be successful and you don't want to start by putting all of Iran on death ground (this means your only outcome is death) because at that point they will fight to the death since there are no other livable options. While we all may disagree with how we got here we are in the fight now and we need to see this through to a successful conclusion which seems to be a permanently safe and navigable SoH
Marines may be heading there to evacuate our regional embassies
So correct me, but all the fuss of making a nuke, why could Iran not just buy one or some already made from Russia or China, North Korea?
He’s answered this before, he touches on it a bit in his last live Q&A. The short answer was that they’re basically not for sale. Those countries valued having them too highly. But, obviously Peter explains this way better than I can.
One undiscussed consequence of this action is that more countries may become motivated to acquire nuclear weapons… especially those that have been the subject of the President’s unwanted attention.
its fucking amazing that you can stay focused in that environment
Put him in a Hooters and see what happens!
I see ai is here too. Your image is distorted at the beginning of the video. Kind of a humorous unflattering microexpression. Hallmark of AI.
Kharg needs to be captured with the oil infrastructure in tact, so they can use it as a bargaining chip to trade it back for the uranium. That's the play imo. Holding islands is kinda what Marines do, but you can expect WWII style casualties with the fleet 1000km away where air support to hit artillery, drones, rockets, etc. The Iranians have to avoid damage to that same infrastructure, because without it their money runs dry and their ability to pay the people suppressing their population dries up as well.
I mean yeah boots on the ground in Iran proper literally zero sense...to expect you can search an area 2.5x larger the than Texas and find some radioactive canisters and go home is something that could only be baked up in a Tom Clancy novel.
1. Bomb. 2. Negotiate (else goto 1.) 3. Send IAEA inspectors to fordow and isfahan (under US marine protection.)
Can you discuss the likelihood of the United States or Israel using a nuke on Iran? I understand that there are a lot of “norms“ against that. But that’s something that Trump I don’t think cares about.
I worry about this too. Trump does not acknowledge barriers in policy. He needs an off ramp in a hurry. No one is talking about this and it needs discussion. Trump is insane enough to try this on
Strategic sense to a 3rd grader
Also, United States doesn't have to open the shipping lane. It's already open and oil traffic is flowing, mostly to China. Restraining the sale of the Iranian oil, just gives the US another lever against China bad behavior.
What would be funny, is if we ALSO mined the strait with small boats...I'm sure at some point in history we've been able to capture some Russian and Chinese mines, clandestineally drop them in the outbound section of the route Iran has opened up and blame it on them to scare regime-friendly ships from operating.
It's time for Americans to do what's right and ignore the anti-American media commentary. Nationalized all the Iranian assets pay reparations to all those damaged over the last 50 years from this regime and set aside a proper trust for the future of their Iranian people.
Hey, we can fantasize if we want. This is a free fantasy country. MAGA does it all the time.
Orange ASSHOLE has already been told by Iran (through 3rd. party countries) that they DO NOT WANT to negotiate until they set ground rules such as reparations for attacking them TWICE! This is all bullshit! More smoke and fucking mirrors from the commander in THIEF!
I also think that administration didn't think this through, and doesn't have a victory plan besides bombing the living shit out of Iran. That being said, I always try to read multiple viewpoints especially ones that are the opposing viewpoint to at least understand where others are coming from. Yesterday, read this article on Al Jazeera and given the source I was kinda taken aback. I know Al Jazeera, not the most trusted source, but what is "trusted" these days? Anyway I thought I'd share... https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/3/16/the-us-israeli-strategy-against-iran-is-working-here-is-why
Muhanad Seloom "When you look at what has actually happened to Iran's principal instruments of power – its ballistic missile arsenal, its nuclear infrastructure, its air defences, its navy and its proxy command architecture – the picture is not one of US failure. It is one of systematic, phased degradation of a threat that previous administrations allowed to grow for four decades." “What the critics described as an expanding regional war is better understood as the death spasm of a proxy architecture whose authorising centre has been shattered.” ” But the critics are making a different error: They are treating the costs of action as if the costs of inaction were zero. They were not. They were measured in the slow accretion of a threat that, left unchecked, would have produced exactly the crisis everyone claims to fear: a nuclear-armed Iran capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz at will, surrounded by proxy forces that could hold the entire region hostage indefinitely.”
Is this a SciFi fantasy, an absurdist comedy, an apocalyptic nightmare or a distopian revolution? Maybe all of the above. Did I miss any other options? Maybe a PZ futuristic thriller . . .
Perhaps it’s a deliberate suicide mission to kill a lot of Marines. A propaganda campaign to sell Americans on the need for vengeance to soon follow. This is a social engineering “Perl Harbor” to get the U.S. MAGAs on board with sending their sons and daughters into the meat grinder, unify behind their “wartime president” and maybe even get a false flag 9/11 style attack on U.S. soil to “justify” more domestic surveillance, martial law and perpetual postponement of federal elections in November 2026 and 2028 and beyond.
YOU READ MY MIND! An opinion I've had since he first used the military AND most certainly after Minneapolis and undeniable NOW! Fuck him and his cadre of traitors! They should be stood up against a wall and face a firing squad for treason and other high crimes!
You see the enemy cannot predict what the United States is going to do if the United States leadership does not know what it is going to do or why it is doing what it is doing
Anyone consider that the Tripoli might be headed to Yemen? Hmmmm….. any carriers headed to the Red Sea?
I am fascinated by the puzzle of watching adults trying to play chess at the daycare center... ...I can't even find a point of view to start from. Finding a beginning, middle, and end is right out! However, this does maybe shed more light on why the beginning of WWI seems so utterly nonsensical... I could never before imagine what a clown show that must have been. Now it's kinda more... "oh, yeah, that's simply what it looks like when you indulge all the whims of an over-privileged manchild..."
The US has had sneaky boots in Iran since the start of the war. The thought is they are on a scavenger hunt for evidence of Obama's malfeasance. Obama's passport has been flaged and he has hired criminal defense attorneys
That is pure crazy talk.
Kids playing with matches... Turn that boat around.
So this sounds like a lot of potential for a goatfuck.
More like the BIGGEST CLUSTERFUCK ever!
Drunk peter analysis are the nest. 😁
Peter, I'm as perplexed as you are... But that skull background was on oddly on topic 💀 💀 💀
Marine here: the acronym MEU is pronounced "myoo", not spelled out like M.E.U.
How do you pronounce “crayon”, Marine? Rah.
When is the expected arrival date of the USS Tripoli?
Could the target be the north side of the straits of Hormuz?
That's what I was thinking, but that would only be a temporary solution to the strait being blocked. We would need to maintain a force there, which would open up another can of worms. The concept of maybe developing a nuclear weapon as leverage doesn't make sense to me. If you're going to invest so much effort in enriching Uranium, you're going to develop a weapon. They are religious fanatics. They would use it.
Brooo! Broooo! We have all the tools we need to get that Uranium out of Isfahan! We have: 1. The Boring Company which can… it can! That’s what it can do. It. It can do. Yeah. Boring! 2. Slogan! A lot of people are saying “This is surely a sign of the mental decay of our President, he’s been saying Drill Baby, Drill for like a decade, there’s something wrong with him.” To which I say: “No! #DigWeMust that uranium! Out of Isfahan! That we buried! With bombs designed to do what they could maybe have done better!” 3. Coalie. He was born in the Earth and he knows better than anyone how to get up in its guts. 4. Strategic LOtR Dwarf Reserves? Release the Princess Disa! https://www.nj.com/politics/2026/03/trump-accidentally-created-a-bizarre-3-word-slogan-thats-replacing-drill-baby-drill.html?outputType=amp
NOTHING the Realtor in Chief does makes sense.
How do we get more people to listen to your analysis? I feel like the number of folks who try to actually educate themselves on this extremely important subject is minuscule.
Don’t you worry about that, the Marketing Guy for ZoG is a commodity that trades higher on the NYSE than AMD on its best day.