Trump is blundering into a ground war. It would be a disaster

If it's the dumbest thing possible, you can count on trump to do it.

A ground war in asia? Who could have possibly predicted that would go poorly?

He has no coherent strategy and zero understanding of the region. Sending troops over there would be a catastrophic, bloody mess with no clear exit.

At the end of the day, I will always blame ALL Trump voters for putting us in this kind of mess.

Full article: Almost a month of US and Israeli bombing of [Iran](https://inews.co.uk/topic/iran?ico=in-line_link) has been a stunning demonstration of what air power can achieve – and what it cannot. The Iranian mullahs have prepared for this kind of asymmetric warfare for decades. They are not giving in. In fact, hardliners in the regime have only been strengthened. Nor have the Iranian people risen up as [Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/topic/donald-trump?ico=in-line_link) hoped they would. Now he faces a painful choice: declare victory, an obvious lie and a humiliation, or start a ground war. Credible reports say that [around 5,000 Marines are on their way](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/the-signs-the-us-is-preparing-a-ground-invasion-of-iran-4313742?ico=in-line_link), along with elements of the 82nd Airborne Division. This is nowhere near enough for a march on Tehran. That would take hundreds of thousands of troops. It may be enough to *start* securing the [Strait of Hormuz](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/trump-control-gulf-risks-terrifying-scenario-warships-iran-4297507?ico=in-line_link), or for a bridgehead on the coast. But this is the “mission-creep” that terrified Trump’s predecessors and led to the Powell Doctrine, set out by the former chairman of the joint chiefs and secretary of state [Colin Powell](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/colin-powell-dead-first-black-us-secretary-of-state-dies-covid-19-age-1254860?ico=in-line_link): define what victory looks like, use overwhelming force to achieve it and have a clear exit strategy. The Trump Doctrine is the opposite: order bombing on impulse, change your war aims day-to-day and have no idea how to get out of the mess you’ve made. This is what happens when you skip the hard thinking about exactly what victory looks like and how to achieve it. America’s 47th President is blundering into a ground war without a plan. It is exactly what Powell – seared by his experience as an army captain in Vietnam – warned against. The Vietnam War Memorial in Washington has the names of the US dead chiselled into polished black granite, each panel – each list of the dead – getting longer as you walk down a ramp, a deepening wedge showing in three dimensions how America was sucked into Vietnam. Trump has said that, unlike other presidents, he doesn’t have “the yips” about deploying ground troops. Yet, he didn’t go to Vietnam because of “bone spurs” in his feet. What happens next will be determined by Trump’s personality more than anything else. He is the US Commander-in-Chief after all. As America’s enemies, especially [Russia](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia?ico=in-line_link) and [China](https://inews.co.uk/topic/china?ico=in-line_link), have noticed, Trump often blusters only to back down. He has a strong incentive to do this now because the economic damage done by the war is hitting his supporters hard. It may even break the Maga coalition, which elected him to keep America out of foreign wars, not start them. On the other hand, the worst insult in Trump’s limited lexicon is “loser”. When he tells stories about his past, he loves to say that former rivals and enemies “choked”, fumbling a big decision through nerves. Trump desperately needs something he can call a win. The plan – perhaps formed only this week – may therefore be this: first the Marines and the 82nd Airborne take control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent or more of the world’s oil usually flows. Then they seize [Kharg Island](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/trump-thinks-island-key-iran-gamble-deadly-4296591?ico=in-line_link), more than 400 kilometres northwest, responsible for 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports. That would be a big chip to hold in any negotiations. *Axios* quoted one Trump administration official as saying: “We… would get them by the balls.” This is an unconscious echo of Vietnam. “Get them by the balls, and their hearts and minds will follow” was how soldiers described the official Vietnam policy of “winning hearts and minds”. Senator Lindsey Graham – the war’s leading Republican cheerleader – wrote on X: “He who controls Kharg Island, controls the destiny of this war.” But holding the island would require constant air and naval support against continuous Iranian harassment. The island might also have to be reinforced with more ground troops. There might have to be US raids further into Iran to destroy artillery positions and bases from which Iranian attacks could be launched. At the same time, to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the marines would have to carry out raids along Iran’s coast to destroy missile batteries, mine stockpiles and attack boats at anchor. This is how the war deepens, like the wedge at the Vietnam Memorial. Despite Graham’s confidence, as US Army officers like to say: “The enemy gets a vote too.” On Monday, an Iranian Major General, Ali Abdollahi**,** announced that the country’s armed forces would now switch from defensive to offensive operations. That may have been rhetoric, but Iranian strikes have intensified. They have fired ballistic missiles at the US base on Diego Garcia in the [Chagos Islands](https://inews.co.uk/topic/chagos-islands?ico=in-line_link), there have been fresh attacks on Tel Aviv and one barrage of missiles fell near the Israeli nuclear plant at Dimona. Meanwhile, Iran’s Defence Council has reportedly warned that any attack on its southern coast and islands would trigger mining of “all Gulf routes” with “various types of sea mines, including floating mines”. Iran is said to still possess thousands of such mines. All this adds up to a concerted message from Iran to Trump about the risks of any ground operation he may order. The Iranian regime shows every sign of eagerly awaiting a ground war. Fighting house-to-house neutralises some of America’s technological advantages. That would be a war of one infantry soldier against another. A US invasion would also be the beginning of a war of roadside bombs and suicide bombers. The Iranian regime sent thousands of children to die by marching across minefields in the war with Iraq. They won’t hesitate to use children against American forces now. The Marines and the 82nd Airborne Division may be weeks away from being able to Iaunch an offensive to seize Kharg Island. Any military build-up takes time. The ground war will not be a rapid solution to Trump’s failure to topple the regime. As with Vladimir Putin’s [invasion of Ukraine](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia-ukraine-war?ico=in-line_link), there has been no knockout blow, no overnight collapse. Unless Trump backs down – a humiliation that may be too much for him to bear – the next steps have a terrible inevitability. He’s almost certainly not planning or even discussing a full-scale invasion. Much more likely, the next step will be the use of ground troops for limited objectives – but the history of Vietnam shows that you enter a quagmire one step at a time.

I keep wondering the logic behind paratroopers into an area that's know for their c**** but powerful drones. To me it just feels like they're sending them on a suicide mission as they'd be easy pickings for a drone fleet.

Vast numbers of people across the world would be cheering to see the US get a firm kick in the balls.

Donald Trump is exactly the type of person who would send in ground troop to be slaughtered! He has no sense, and no humanity. He is totally indifferent to human life. Jeffrey Epstein, the child molester, said he had never met anyone as corrupt and depraved as Donald Trump: "I have met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump," Epstein wrote in 2017 to former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. "Not one decent cell in his body."

The "disaster" part of that headline isn't even a prediction at this point, it's just a description of the trajectory

Trump is blundering ~~into a ground war. It would be a disaster~~ Anything Trump does is a blunder, he's a walking, talking, breathing blunder.

You could’ve stopped after “blundering” and you’d be right about everything the idiot tries to do.

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Most patriotic response is to not sign up for the military, be prepared to refuse illegal orders if you are already trapped in a contract (or go AWOL if things get truly dark), and cover for any friends or family that need to. Hard fact is that Trump is trying to keep the armed forces distracted and overseas so they can't respond or defend civilians come the 2028 elections. Whether that means getting them killed deliberately to thin out potential opposition for his next coup, or whether they are just being used to assist Putin's geopolitical position, the truth is that no conflicts Trump engages in will be used to protect America or it's constitution, short term or long term. and I mean this genuinely for any soldiers out there: stay fit, stay safe, stay home. I'm hoping Trump chickens out and implodes before then, but desperate people do desperate things, and like a wild animal cornered by the consequences of his own actions, expect trump to behave like a starving rabies infested dog. Your first priority is to defend America from threats both foreign and domestic. Your duties to the constitution will always outweigh your obligations to the chain of command. If Trump does escalate, then keeping you ready to defend civilians here is worth far more than wasting your life in a meaningless conflict overseas.

Donald Trump said he is the best negotiator in the world.  He said he would stop the Ukraine-Russia war in 24 hours, if elected.  No one even asks him about that, because he blunders from one disaster to another.

A ground war in Iran would means no war in Cuba, Greenland, Canada, Mexico. Iran is going have to take one for the planet

Stocks creeping back up lol

no boots on the fuckin' ground man

Blundering and disaster are two defining characteristics of Trump. Being a narcissistic idiot doesn't help.

It *will be* a disaster. FTFY

The attack on Iran was an unneeded stirring of a hornet's nest. But now that the idiot has done the damage, really we need to send in ground troops to finish the job. If we go through what we have gone through and then back off leaving the same regime in place, it will be a colossal wasted opportunity. Right now we have other Middle Eastern countries on our side and a weakened Iranian government along with a local populace that wants their government toppled. Unfortunately, Trump is an idiot and has put other idiots in charge. So whether we go in or don't go in, it'll probably be a cluster anyway.

I think Trump only wanted to start war, so he could call himself a wartime leader to fulfill his fantasies. We need someone in charge who actually cares about the Iranian liberation because I don't think he does. He just likes bombing.

The correct word is blundered.  Past tense.  Attacking in the first place was the mistake.  Now we're probably looking at a very hard to win ground war. 

It “will” be a disaster and thousands of Americans will die because of it while the Trump/Epstein class makes billions off their death and the increased prices we’re already paying for everything. It’s about time we brushed up on 18th century French history…

Has Trump done anything well? Anything thoughtful? Anything good for the average American?

Y'all sons about to die for a pedophiles war

Just add it on the YUGE growing pile of disastrous Trump decisions.

Does the military make caskets or do they buy them wholesale?

F****** Moron!

Trump thinks Pete's warrior ethos will keep the US from getting bogged down in protracted ground war. When he realizes he was misled, he will fire hegseth and replace him with someone even less qualified, but he won't pull the troops out.

> You’ve fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia . . . -Vizzini

something, something land war in Asia

He has been blundering for a while. He wont get what he wants out of the Iranian offer, or accept it then violate it anyways, and he will commit ground troops by end of summer. All the buildup isnt for show

As long as it distracts from the Epstein files, pretty sure he doesn’t care.

Aren't our troops "losers and suckers" anyway? He doesn't care. He thinks this is power while he has given up all of our rewl power.

Every goddamned thing he’s done since 2015 has been a disaster — for citizens, residents, immigrants & their missing kids, pandemic victims, women, LGBTQIA folks, active military & veterans, social welfare programs, environmental controls, national parks, #ClimateCrisis mitigation, international alliances, our morals, ethics & economy.

I just don't get the point of it. What do we even have to gain here?

Even using the word "blunder" gives Trump cover he doesn't deserve. This is purposeful, done with intent, in spite of the obvious, inevitable harm.

Trump wants Cuba next, most likely as his own reward for "winning" in Iran. Just read Cuba: An American History (2021). Lots of things I did not know, especially after the S-A War when the US tried to intervene in about everything Cuban. 1930's mafia time in Cuba. US citizens/companies took over most land/sugar. Fidel Castro was a lawyer - no idea. He tried to re-vamp land ownership, gave up and nationalized it. Bay of Pigs was a disaster before troops hit land. Worth a read. I don't really think Cuba will just roll over for Trump. Cuba may lose, but they are ready and waiting for a US invasion. Of course, Trump must first find an Iran exit.

In the us vs them it's so easy to numb ourselves to how catastrophic this really is and can be. This administration is not competent. It literally cannot carry out a real war successfully. So far, the consequences directly felt by Americans from this war have been higher prices. It can get so much worse. For us. For everyone else. This isn't a f****** joke. This "president" needed to be removed MONTHS ago and because that just hasn't happened, because those mechanisms have been subverted by traitors to America in the Republican party, we are slowly doing what every animal does -- acclimating. We are staying angry, we are staying hopeful, but president has only become less constrained with time. I know that me and you reading this comment cannot just go and remove the president. But it is still worth yelling from the rooftops that every day that goes by with this man still in office, much less out of a jail cell, is not only a miscarriage of justice but is a real and deadly threat to peace and security everywhere.

No… Trump is kicking the can to delay as long as he can to get as close as possible to the mid terms. Then he’ll send the troops… and manipulate the markets as much as he can.

I honestly hope a f*** ton of Americans die on Iranian soil and that it incites their siblings to resort to the 4th box in the event that their parents don’t first use the voting box to exact change. We deserve this, and if it’s like the previous drafts, it’s going to target the poor rural areas first, but also the poor urban areas, potentially resulting in the creation of some new street gangs.

What specific moves are you seeing that point toward a ground war? Are you looking at a particular region or a specific policy shift?