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March 28, 2026
The New York Times and Washington Post report Pentagon officials contemplating ground invasion of Iran
By Dave Lefcourt
As to the war in Iran the NY Times & Washington Post report from US officials "the Pentagon has officially issued orders for 2,000 elite troops from the army's 82nd airborne division to deploy w/in 'striking distance of Iran. An additional 2,500 marines are scheduled to arrive later this week to reinforce a potential ground operation which media has speculated could include seizing Iran's main oil export hub on Kharg Island.
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President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shown discussing potential ground invasion of Iran
Contrary to earlier media reports at the time decapitating the Iranian regime by assassinating its Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei, which did occur on the first day of the Israeli US war on Iran February 28, 2026, would force the regime to collapse. That of course did not happen.
Instead Iranian higher authorities met and voted for a new supreme leader namely Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei.
What this does is confirm the resilience of the Iranian system that was overlooked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Trump who believed the Iranian regime would collapse with Ali Khamenei's demise along with the hard hitting assault by Israeli and US air power.
Meanwhile the Iranian's have not stood idly by. They have retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz to its adversaries and limiting passage only to those countries that oppose the aggression by Israel and the US. Iran has sent missiles and drones attacking US base sites in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait as well as Israel's Tel Aviv and other cities.
What is most worrying is the latest from the New York Times and Washington Post, which according US officials, "the Pentagon has officially issued orders for around 2,000 elite troops from the army's 82nd Airborne Division to deploy within 'striking distance' of Iran." [1]
"An additional 2,500 marines are scheduled to arrive later this week to reinforce a potential ground operation, which the media has long speculated could include seizing Iran's main oil export hub on Kharg Island".
A "senior Iranian military adviser dared the US military to 'come closer' saying Iranian armed forces have trained in asymmetrical warfare for decades".
If the US actually attacks Iran with ground troops it will very likely be disastrous for Trump and his administration on many fronts.
Firstly most Americans are opposed to Trump's war on Iran and their opposition will only grow if he sends ground troops into the war.
Secondly when more US troops are killed, beyond the 11 or so admittedly killed as per the Pentagon, and when some of those troops are killed, captured and held as hostages by the Iranian's this will only intensify Americans demand for Trump to end the war.
Thirdly US Congressional elections are scheduled for November and Trump's Republican majority in the House of Representatives could result in Democrats retaining the majority in that body. It is less likely for the Repubs to lose its majority in the Senate although that is also possible.
Lastly a Democrat held majority in the House could vote to impeach Trump as well as cripple his agenda going forward in his last two years as president.
So though Trump now says there's been back channel negotiations with the Iranian's to end the war, which the latter rejected out of hand as fake news, Trump somehow needs to find an off ramp, declare "victory" regardless of its actual truth and end the war with Iran.
That won't be easy as admitting defeat is anathema to Trump's megalomaniac personality so a declaration of victory no matter how absurd that would be in reality is Trump's only play here.
As for Israel's war with Iran it would also have to end it as it would be unable to continue it on its own. Plus it needs to end Iranian missiles and drones from hitting Israeli cities.
As mentioned numerous times in this space Trump is totally unpredictable and one never know what he will do.
Hopefully he'll take the off ramp as mentioned above and end his war with Iran.
That's hardly reassuring knowing his unpredictable nature as we've seen in the past.
[1] "iran allows non-hostile ships through Strait of Hormuz", RT. March 24, 2026