U.S. Ground Troops Coming to Iran || Mar. 26, 2026

Trump will override advisors, US troops will pay the price, and then Trump will sack the advisors.

Didn't Trump get told there was a party there? I'm just looking at who benefits from all this, and then assuming they're the people that gave this idea to Trump.

Also Peter, if itis getting worse do not wait on getting seen again as a course like this may be Mycoplasma ("walking pneumonia"), plus if you have had covid then you are at risk for continued T-cell dysfunction (see Leonardi effect) making your ability to respond to respiratory infections possibly less than adequate.

in military terms... LOSA (Lack of situational awareness) leads to FUBAR (Fouled up beyond all recognition).

Sounds like a replay of President Reagan’s deployment of 2,000 Marines to Beirut in 1982. Sitting ducks.

I don't understand the comment "this [sending in ground troops] is a bad idea" - what other option does Trump / the USA have? How can you re-open the Straits of Hormuz without ground troops? Only alternative I see is surrender to the Iranians, apologise, ask them nicely - and give them whatever they ask for in return. Given that choice, sending in ground troops looks like a no-brainer. Yes, American soldiers will undoubtedly die. But you should have thought of that before you elected Trump.

Brother we need you to look beyond the present... this idea Trump had was bad, yes, but it was not unpredictable. So please also tell us, what is the list of next likely candidates of obvious but harebrained ideas he could have? After he faces destruction in Kharg, USA public will surely get off their a** and overthrow him for getting hundreds of USAnians killed right??? What does it take for this species to wake up and take their country back? If not, what will this orangutan cook up? Nukes?? Probably he'll just scapegoat Hegseth or Israel or someone else and abdicate this issue entirely, right?? What other choice do they have??

Feel better Peter

I watched the Cabinet meeting this morning and I was not impressed. Meanwhile watching Times Radio, Iran’s president meets with Putin tomorrow and Putin speaking from St. Petersburg promises peace and security for Israel. Trump and the Cabinet strikes me as amateurs. Speaking to an audience of one: Trump. While Putin and Pezeshkian were speaking to a much broader audience. Military command must obey what are perhaps ill advised but legal orders until such day Congress asserts itself otherwise. But I’m just a civilian. What do I know?

So now, seems that he will be waiting for additional ships to arrive

Hopefully you don’t got turbo cancer, Peter

You are a real trooper Peter, carrying on when sick as a dog. Get some rest. K

Just cut the power off to Kharg Island. Not my idea, heard a retired general on TV stating this was both effective and with little risk to our troops.

You sound afraid of Iran. "The gloves will come off." You think the gloves are still on?? Any harrowing of Iran seems like a good idea, regardless of cost; imagine the world with Iran as a nuclear power. Really think that through.

I am filled with confidence that Pete Hegseth has everything well in hand.

Yes, Kharg is an awful idea, but so is hopping down Iran's 600+ mile coastline. 10k troops are not enough to occupy and hold. Iran practically invented modern insurgency warfare as an export product. We can be sure they are ready to use it at home, probably relishing the idea. The civilians though, they're screwed. That goes for the whole region if Iran hits neighbor's infrastructure hard.

Yes Kharg island is the target. Yes under sea internet cables and oil infrastructure and desalination is also the target. Fantastic News! Irgc is gonna get to stay in power indefinitely now. $39 Trillion today in debt $42 Trillion debt tomorrow. Ukraine was the theater that Iran got all it's balls to take down a Paper Tiger military like the USA. Russia and USA similar but the USA has most to lose

If fpv drone kills of US Marines/Soldiers show up on social media like Ukraine/Russian videos, Trump will become the most unpopular President in history. When a mom in Nebraska sees her kid blown up on her Facebook feed, everything ends

I don't think the target is Kharg Island. I believe they will focus on the Strait of Hormuz. Go where the problem is. Perhaps set up a beachhead???

Bad idea you say? Trump accepts the mission.

dude, comb your hair. thanks tho for your posts

82nd isn't an elite force. Went to Iraq back in 2006-2007. 82nd took over for the 3rd ID and a formerly peaceful region turned into a complete sh1tshow and we had so many friendly fire incidents we included the 82nd in our enemies brief.

You should check the work by Robert Pape, who feels there is also a chance that the intent is to try to "go get" the remaining fissile material in order to keep Iran from building bombs. That would be a mission that in theory would match the capabilities of the 82nd Airborne, far more than close air/amphibious raids on the coast to limit drone attacks on shipping. It would, of course, be a complete debacle... but you can see the Trumpian "thinking" behind it.

I'm confused...our Supreme Leader said we won weeks ago...and then he said it again today.(And pretty much every day) I'm not sure how much more of this winning I can take.

They should use Claude at least I trust Claude more than them.

Another 20 year war with people who don't live in a cave

If I were an Iranian minister and I anticipated that someone might try to grab Kharg Island for use as a bargaining chip or deployment station my obvious course of action would be to pack it with as much explosives as possible in anticipation of this very scenario- like what Saddam Hussein did with the oil fields in Iraq. [Addendum: it has been brought to my attention that I have misremembered my history- Hussein blew up Kuwait's oil fields in 1991. A rather inconsequential 3-10 were blown up in Iraq in 2003. For reasons I explain below, I do not think that really changes my point too much. But I wish to emphasize: I do not want US troops to die any more than I want innocent Iranians to die. But I believe we are headed toward such a disaster nonetheless.]

let’s see if orange man proves you wrong again, as he tends to do

Peter & Friends, Former 82nd Airborne Armor trooper here. It is absolutely true that 82nd is "light" and without organic armor. But the primary doctrinal mission is to sieze an airfield and hold it to support incoming forces. After they got rid of organic armor in the 90s, the standard plan was that armored brigades from the 3rd Infantry Division (also part of 18th Airborne Corps) would be loaded and moved to the captured airfield as quickly as possible with one platoon of tanks available almost immediately after the parachute assault. Kharg has an airfield, so if 82nd goes there, it's very likely they'd be grabbing and holding the airfield while lots of other forces are moved in. Thus, there'd be much more than light infantry/Marines present. Would Iran nonetheless pummel the island with everything they have? Why not?

I agree that occupying Kharg Island is a fool's errand. If you want to take it offline, just destroy the pipeline(s) to the mainland.

This is going to be one hell of a shitshow. *pass the popcorn around*

As a retired (former) Special Forces Colonel and Joint Staff Planner with over 4 years deployed to the M.E. 6/02 to 3/10, rest assured the US military has plenty of strategic, operational, and tactical planning capacity at all level. ..... taught at our professional development schools , in my case, Command and General Staff..... Peter is wrong when he claims that we have lost that capacity due to cuts made at the DoD..i.e DoW. I am supervised that he would say such a thing as he is usually spot on.

Food stamps were cut in the United States and so was medicine for children because the budget was too important… And now Trump‘s war is costing us at a minimum $2 billion a day and increase the cost of fuel across the country to where we as consumers are paying an additional $1 billion per day. The Republicans are refusing to fund the TSA, and the demands the Democrat Democrats are making have broad public support so it’s not like the Democrats can be blamed, everyone wants to see ice agents held to higher standards. So flights are disrupted all across the United States and flights internationally are all disrupted because Trump‘s war took out three prominent international airports in the Middle East. There’s a logistical crisis, looming in agriculture and manufacturing because of this Trump war. I personally think we will see an Arab spring style revolt in many food insecure regions around this time next year. All because the Epstein class wanted their guy

This war is about 2 men who are staying out of international jails BB and Trump both need to be prosecuted by international courts.

Yo Peter ….. Eat grass and lay in the sun on the porch ….. works for my dog, Bro !

Hopefully we’ve still got a bunch of Purple Hearts left over from WW2. Gonna need them.

Yea Trump go Trump

I hope you feel better Peter. Thank you for giving us great insight even while you are sick.

I’m so sorry you don’t feel well. We all hope you get well very quickly. And I love your new hairstyle. Two important things: we appreciate your analysis and wish there were some way to change the current trajectory.

Oh and no answer as to why we're in this war, or if trump knew anything about the Hormuz Straight. I suspect putin is running donny's plans for him...

We’re not just falling into a trap; we’re diving in head-first. This feels like something out of a Greek tragedy in the making. Thankfully, they were wise enough to move the Ford and her group a bit more more beyond range, but if Yemen gets their hands on the Russian fiber optic drones, then it’ll be a Turkey Shoot. We’re falling into a trap at sea while the Guard crushes anyone who dares to walk the streets at night.

Will this finally make America great again?

When the hell are we going to reign in this runaway, lunatic and rampaging leader? This has gone on way to long...

I highly doubt that Donald Trump didn’t know the risks of the strait of Hormuz. I also highly doubt that those who replaced who he fired were so incompetent to overlook these risk. Question is do you know what is really going on or are you just guessing like most of the media.

Qeshm Island could work the same way that Okinawa worked in 1945. And since 1945. With the same personnel...

The enemy gets s vote

Gute Besserung Peter!

We know how this ends- The war game scenario where "row boats" (metaphorically, small, low-tech craft) sank aircraft carriers is the Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02), a $250 million US military simulation. In this exercise, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper, leading a "Red Team" simulating a Middle Eastern adversary, used asymmetric tactics to "sink" 16 U.S. warships—including an aircraft carrier—within 10 minutes.

Even though I know better, I cannot believe he’s being allowed to double down. What can military leaders be thinking sending their units into this trap? Does Israel have anything of substance to deploy to this end? I hope the gulf states have a plan B for water…if I were Iran they’d be on the list if American ground troops were sent in. Feel better Peter - get that Osha root and chew.

Could be the troops are just for show to encourage the mad dog mullahs to submit. (But, of course mad dogs don't fall for show boating.) Occupying Kharg would be hard, but would Iran want to destroy their own oil transport infrastructure to shoot at Marines? (I suppose the answer is yes, but it would be very costly.) A siege of Kharg makes more sense, for example, blasting the ferries that transport personnel, supplies, vehicles back and forth. Aerial attack of any military personnel on the island. Amphibious assault of Hormuz to degrade their military assets? Why? We, the USA, doesn't need their oil or Hormuz. Disperse troops throughout the Gulf to protect assets and personnel? Maybe. But, shouldn't that have been done already? Actually, mostly, I am coming up with: Just for show.

I see that Operation Epstein Diversion is going as well as expected.

I hope you feel better soon PZ. Thanks for persevering. Yes, Kharg would be a useless bargaining chip - the Iranians can still export some oil through Jask without Kharg. The beach around the Strait of Hormuz would also be a bit useless as Iranians can launch drones from the nearby mountains. I feel deeply sorry for the military lives that are about to be lost in such a forseeable futile activity.

The U.S. can't seem to control the oil production out of the middle east, So destroying it will change the power structures that have threatened the American petrodollar . Israel wins as everyone with the lack out funding Hezbulla ,Russia, China and Iran lose their levers of power over the reserve currency of the global economy!

I don't mean this as an insult. I seriously and honestly believe it. Donald Trump is not an intelligent, rational, competent individual. I could put that more concisely in a more offensive way, but I'll keep it calm.

I think Peter exaggerates Trumps inability to listen to meaningful advice. He called off his stupid threat to bomb civilian targets so he’s not completely isolated from good advice.

Economic pain from Iran, immigration and tariffs should land hard before midterm elections. THe remaining Epstein files should be released by then too. There is going to be a clear message sent by voters and it won’t look good for Trump. He wanted to cement his legacy and he has, just not the way he had planned.

Trying to be a military nerd and see where they could use it - but "Hostomel" is all that I been thinking about. Hope they train the kids in drone warfare - they might be in for a rough one.

Peter, I hope you feel better soon.

Wishes for a speedy recovery.

Peter, Feel better

I dunno. I couldn't focus for lack of cat noises.

Ugh, you sound miserable, dude. Here's to a speedy recovery! Personally I think they're going to try to do something even stupider and take Qeshm island instead.

Trump considered the difficulties that Russia has faced in Ukraine, and then considers Iran. He turns to his friend Putin, and says, "Hold my beer, and watch this!!"

Darth Don Strikes Back! Iran will hold on and throw rocks at these troops if that’s all that’s left. Don has no leverage here. IRGC is fighting crusaders and it’s all or nothing.

China’s reaction if the Americans take Kharg Island?

Iran would rather dirty-bomb Kharg island than let Trump use it. It's a trap and the Deathstar's shields are still up.

Peter, hope you feel better soon. I have found massive quantities of Vitamin C and extra zinc helps.

What a feeling

Thank you Peter, I hope you feel better soon!