Logically, they should. But a lot of people in and out of the US seem incapable of learning that bribing Trump doesn’t actually work (as he fails to keep his side of any deal). So it depends on which of them learn that lesson.
Are we assuming that Iran has not rigged major portions of the island to blow, including the oil infrastructure?
Deleted, forgot Mod Note
Yeah acceptable in this context means only what the GOP base will accept before they turn on him. Which is a lot. He would happily (literally it would give him joy) order another Iwo-jima if thought it would get him respected as a great war leader.
And TBH I’m not even sure that limit holds any more, this is more about Trump leaving a legacy (or what his twisted half rotted brain considers a legacy) than drumming up support in the base.
That assumes there is no one shooting at them. Obviously the US and Israel have really done a number on Iranian air defenses to a remarkable degree. But they are no where near the point where a bunch of slow moving VTOL craft can land in the the most heavily guarded bit of Iranian airspace with impunity.
We really don’t know that. Maybe military intelligence has a good idea, but I sure don’t. It might be a relatively quiet walkover of a shell-shocked, isolated and battered garrison. Or it could be a bloody Iwo Jima (coincidentally the two islands are very roughly the same size). I’d probably bet closer to the former.
But it really doesn’t matter except to the poor troops on the ground. At least from where I’m sitting strategically it doesn’t really do all that much. Shutting down Iran’s Gulf oil exports is easier done at sea without risking getting bogged down on real estate. Meanwhile shutting down Iran’s oil exports is something the U.S. has explicitly not done to prevent an oil shock, even going so far as to give the regime a helping hand by releasing Iranian tankers from sanctions. The U.S. can’t extract oil from Kharg, holding Kharg does nothing to reduce the threat to the Strait of Hormuz and occupying the island invites a constant wave of little chipping attacks from the mainland that will just cost lives to no good effect.
I just don’t see the point.
Either "We have to do something!", or they have fantasies about conquering Iran and stealing its oil.
Canada is a major producer of aluminum which could help fulfill US needs, but … tariffs! More winning! ![]()
Based on a recent Mark Levin monologue which Trump suggested his followers watch, they are more likely going to try to steal its uranium.
Operation Eagle Claw II: Nuclear Boogaloo?
That’s the kind of optimistic assessment that’s been incorrectly made about the effects of barrages since the Somme.
The point is that Trump really really wants to do it and has for decades.
That makes occupying Kharg Island seem like a cake walk. This sounds like a plan made up by someone who has watched a lot of 80s action movies but has no knowledge of what it takes to pull off a successful raid IRL.
Occupying Kharg Island is a perfectly reasonable military goal if you don’t mind a lot of your troops dying (and the oil facilities getting destroyed in the process). Stealing the most precious heavily guarded resources from the heart of Iran is a fantasy.
Doesn’t mean the current command in chief wouldn’t order it attempted mind you ![]()
Agreed. The uranium is in gas form, buried in underground bunkers in the heart of Iran, and after the bombing it may be unclear what state the infrastructure is in. Presumably not in one location, but not sure.
If this news site is to be trusted
it would be easier to make a movie pretending they did it and show it to President Ineptstein to make him happy.
Even if a force could reach the uranium, transporting it safely presents another challenge.
Iran typically stores enriched uranium in the form of uranium hexafluoride gas inside large industrial cylinders.
“These are not light suitcases,” Ailam said. “Each standard cylinder together with its protective casing can weigh between five and ten tons.”
Moving such cargo would require heavy transport helicopters hovering over the site while the containers are attached—a process that would expose aircraft and crews to both military and environmental hazards.
“In addition, even a few minutes of exposure to a damaged cylinder without heavy shielding would be a death sentence,” Ailam warned.
Any substance with the suffix -hexafluoride I don’t want to be close to. That stuff is toxic and corrosive.
Huh, I had completely forgotten that O.J. Simpson was on the crew of Capicorn One. Makes the movie even funnier in retrospect.
I found the safety data sheet for uranium hexafluoride (UF6) from the US Department of Energy. It is as bad as I thought:
https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/sds-uranium-hexafluoride-uf6
Stealing that is what in German military lingo is called a Himmelfahrtskommando, which is a much nicer name than suicide mission, glory-or-grave-job, or suicide squad, the suggested translations in the wikiarticle.
This is not good.
So, given this is the stupidest, least effective way to conduct this war, it will be what Trump chooses.
Not only that it’s a stupid ineffective way to conduct a war that Trump has been advocating for since the 1980s. There is a very very strong likelihood he will invade Kharg Island IMO
An argument I’ve seen elsewhere is that this war increases the chance of him actually following through on the idea of conquering Greenland, because after he gives up on this war he’ll be looking for an easy win to placate his ego.
But will he ever give up on this war? They’ve been bringing lots of ground troops to the theater, so I doubt if they’re going to not put them in combat. I get the impression that Trump and (especially) Hegseth are not the type not to put them to use. But once we have boots on the ground, it’s going to be a big quagmire. One that will extend to the end of Trump’s administration. Hopefully, the next president will find a way to get out of that quagmire.