Posted on 03/22/2026 12:50:22 AM PDT by RandFan
Three weeks after the joint US-Israeli war against Iran began, the conflict has reached a fuzzy state of mixed messages and uncertainty, with Donald Trump's public comments often seemingly contradicted by realities on the ground.
The war is "very complete, pretty much", Trump has said, but new American ground forces – including a Marine expeditionary unit - are moving into the region. It is "winding down", but US and Israeli bombing and missile strikes on Iranian targets continue unabated.
Opening the Strait of Hormuz, the geographic choke point through which 20% of the world's oil export travels, is a "simple military manoeuvre", but for now only Iranian-approved ships are transiting the waters. The Iranian military is "gone", but drones and missiles are still striking targets in the region and targets have extended as far as the joint US-UK base in Diego Garcia.
In a Saturday evening post on Truth Social, Trump threatened an escalation, warning that if Iran didn't "fully open, without threat" Hormuz in 48 hours, the US military would begin targeting Iranian power plants, "starting with the biggest".
The day before, however, he had used his social media website to provide a numbered list of American military objectives for the Iran war, which he said the US was "getting really close" to fulfilling.
The items, comprising his most detailed statement on the subject since the war began, included degrading or destroying Iran's military, its defence infrastructure and its nuclear weapons programme, as well as protecting American allies in the region.
Not included was the goal of securing the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump said should be the responsibility of other nations that are more dependent on oil exports from the Gulf
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Good!
No, we haven't. The air war should continue as long as Iran can still launch rockets at Israel and its Arab neighbors, not to mention Diego Garcia. We can end the bulk of the air campaign when Iran can only launch about 1 missile per week. Then hunt it down and destroy it.
Securing the Strait? Impossible without hundreds of thousands of troops.
No, I'm guessing that when you write "troops", you mean Army type troops. They're not needed to secure the strait. We need to find the missile, drone, and cruise missile sites that threaten the strait and destroy them.
I hope President Trump doesn't make the same mistake as President George Herbert Walker Bush and stop before the job is done.
If we don't start developing a clear strategy about how to deal with this problem around the world and at home, we will end up like the UK and the EU.
Total hogwash. This is the BBC for goodness sake! 🙄
Destroy their war making factories and this will stop.
Amen to that. When the name of the religion means submission there really is no alternative. And as much as we think we can be live and let live that’s not what they really want.
Agreed, very few (even here) know the formal definition of Islam.
Could be. But if we really at war with Islam, why would we allow them into our country, to become Congresscritters, judges, mayor and so on? Sadly, I fear that we really aren’t at war with Islam.
> He can actually strike Iran’s electric grid, etc., bringing pain to the people to the degree that they will have to take to the streets, igniting regime change.
AP ran a recent article claiming that hitting the power plants is problematic from a military legal perspective, potentially opening trump and command chain to war crime accusations. See the recent AP article “Trump’s changing course on Strait of Hormuz strategy raises questions about US war preparation.” Not suggesting it is a slam dunk one way or another but it might be worth considering.
I can just imagine military lawyers giving trump legal bad news on his latest plans, and trump becoming frustrated.
Perhaps the alternative of building air conditioned barracks and swimming pools for troops in diego garcia would be better than risking trump proceeding and later being prosecuted for war crimes. let another coalition lead the charge. meanwhile we all pay at the pump.
a side notion is a mandated escort of western tankers with chinese tankers through hormuz. if one is targeted, they all blow up.
I think taking out Iran’s electric grid will be a mistake. It will make us an enemy of the everyday Iranians we are hoping to overthrow the regime.
Why the US Navy Won’t Clear the Mines Even Though It Can
Navy Decoded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NNZ2u2WDD0
Could be. But if we really at war with Islam, why would we allow them into our country, to become Congresscritters, judges, mayor and so on? Sadly, I fear that we really aren’t at war with Islam.
___________________
Perhaps it bears further clarification. In this world, Allah is the true beguiling Serpent, the snake. So it is that Allah has cast Biblical scales over the eyes of God’s people, preventing them from seeing who he truly is. He has revealed himself as a god, taken on the name of Allah, and through Mohammad proclaimed himself that he and he alone is supreme, the one true god. Through scheming of all sorts, he has already convinced an entire population of earthly inhabitants of his godliness and that he is worthy of fighting and dying for. Worse yet, he has tasked those believers with destroying God’s faithful so he can reign supreme over this earthly kingdom, and thereby even the score with his nemesis, the One and only Triune God. God knew the Devil’s ways from the get go and cautioned his faithful that they should remain on guard, vigilant, and, most importantly, resist the Devil’s temptations. But alas, humans gifted with free will and being what they are, trusting souls, - here I must say it straight away - God’s people are just plain stupid for their own eternal well being. So, we see history repeating itself and God’s people falling prey to the Devil, cloaked as he is in the name of Allah, so many have once again become weak and have fallen from God’s good graces. However, this time it seems to me their transgressions carry special peril because clearly there is something going on. It is a rapidly expanding world-wide capturing of humanity by Allah and his warriors, coupled with a frightful lack of vigilance and awareness of this unfolding catastrophe in the world. Trump is having to now deal with the Devil’s prime Iranian henchmen and at the same time with a wishy washy American public, who for the most part, don’t have a clue as to Islam’s import and what’s going on in the world.
The problem with regime change is that a regime as entrenched and as ruthless as this fifty year reign has systemically eliminated most of the “talent” or competent people capable of establishing a viable gubmint.
There is NO REASON to trust our intelligence community on who might be the best successors as they have been wrong again and again at least in my lifetime.
Trump’s best option is to destroy as much of their military as possible and make the best deal he can and get out before our 250th birthday.
Some might claim that is once again kicking the can down the road, but compared to what previous administrations have or this case have not done is not a FAIR criticism.
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