What I don't understand is that the talk on this concerns marines going through the Strait of Hormuz to then annex the Iranian terminals on Kharg Island. Now, I know marines are kind of into doing water things, but the USA owns the GCC countries, and I think Iraq was conquered a little while ago. So why can't a different route be taken? Can't they just drive across the desert from the country known as Israel? Or from the Red Sea?
They're probably going to do an aerial insertion via helicopter (Ospreys technically), which doesn't require transiting Hormuz. These big amphibious assault ships are built for both maritime and aerial insertions.
Well, marines are usually delivered to a target area by ship. You can get the marines to the coast of the Persian Gulf by air or by car or whatever, but how do you get them to Kharg Island? It has to be either air or ship. And if it's going to be ship, you have to get the landing ship there. If it's not already in the Gulf, then it has to come through Hormuz.
Well, I think going to some small island is easier than organising land-based movement. If you look at the area in the last 25 years or so, ambushing a truck carrying cargo is much easier compared to, say, intercepting para-troopers if prior air raids leveled the ground. But I think this "invading Kharg" is a red herring; it seems primarily to try to persuade the US population that boots on the ground must happen. Or it is a probe for minimal involvement, but then the question is ... why would they only want to occupy a small island? Even assuming Iran would not do anything, what does that actually achieve? The USA withdrew from Afghanistan too, so everyone now knows one can try to wait it out. Meanwhile the energy prices will go up in many countries. It is not clear to me why I should have to pay more money due to Trump and his superrich buddies.
