00:00And what are the risks of such a deployment, especially after Iran suggested it has mobilized over a million troops
00:07amid escalation fears?
00:09Well, look, let's just start with the mission itself.
00:12I don't think that it's that difficult for the Marines, be it the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is supposed
00:21to be already there.
00:22And today is Friday. They're supposed to get there.
00:24And they are on board the USS Tripoli.
00:26And then you've got the 11th MU, which is supposed to be getting there also quite soon.
00:33And there's also the decision possibly to add more units from the Army, not from the Marines, the 82nd Airborne,
00:41which is a special operations unit.
00:43And so I think you have sufficient manpower to seize the island.
00:48I don't think it's going to be that challenging from an operational point of view.
00:51The challenge is going to be how long you have to hold it.
00:54It's one thing to seize, another altogether to hold and provide the necessary force protection for those troops who are
01:04going to be landing.
01:05You also don't know how they're going to get there, right?
01:07You can either get them there by air, try to, you know, use the helicopters, the V-22 Ospreys, and
01:15then have them land on the island.
01:16And then, of course, have to deal with whatever weapon systems that the Iranians would employ or by sea.
01:24Right. So and then you which means that you have to go through the Strait of Hormuz all the way
01:29to the north of the Gulf and then have to deal with whatever firepower that the Iranians would also employ,
01:36be it drones, be it surface to sea missiles, FPVs and so on and so forth.
01:43Like, look, the Marines are going to be well equipped for a mission for a mission like this.
01:48But I think, like I said, the challenge is going to be how long do they have to hold it
01:52and what kind of logistics they would bring with them for a sort of a longer term, you know, physical
01:59presence on the island.
02:00And then, of course, you got to tie it to the most important thing, which is what is the strategic
02:04objective if it's not met?
02:06Right. If it doesn't lead to Iranian concessions, what do you do then?
Comments