Boots on the ground

[Stalin]

The 2003 Iraq invasion began with about 145,000 US troops, which US officials described as only “a fraction of what would be needed to invade Iran.” Iran is larger, more mountainous, and more populous than Iraq, and far more capable of sustaining prolonged resistance. Any attempt at regime change by ground conquest would, by any serious measure, require several hundred thousand troops at the outset, with vastly larger forces demanded by occupation and internal control.

Standard counterinsurgency and occupation planning by the strategists of US imperialism uses a benchmark of roughly 20–25 security personnel per 1,000 residents; applied to Iran’s population, that implies a total presence on the order of roughly 1.9 to 2.3 million troops.

A war on this scale cannot be fought without the total subordination of American society to war. The immense costs will be imposed through a massive assault on the working class. At the same time, the government will be compelled to suppress opposition by force. A prolonged war against a country of 93 million people requires not only bombs and troops abroad but a ferocious police state at home.

The utter criminality of the Trump administration’s foreign policy is inseparable from its war on the Constitution and democratic rights within the United States. The regime is openly preparing measures to rig the 2026 elections—or even suspend them entirely—through bogus claims of mass voting by “illegal aliens,” while issuing threats that opponents of its policies of war, austerity and repression will be rounded up en masse.

The Trump regime has initiated a war whose consequences they neither foresee nor control. There is an element of insanity in its actions, but it is an insanity rooted in class interests. The war against Iran arises out of decades of expanding US aggression, driven by the imperative of American imperialism to counter its economic decline through military violence.

At the same time, the Trump administration confronts an escalating political crisis at home, intensified by the Epstein revelations, which have ripped away any remaining veil from the operations of a criminal oligarchy. A government mired in crimes and threatened by growing popular anger responds as such governments always do: It seeks salvation in war.

Trump and Hegseth launch “total war” against Iran

The unprecedented language used at a Pentagon military briefing indicates that the Trump administration is preparing to use nuclear weapons in the war of aggression it began Saturday.

www.wsws.org

comrade stalln
moscow

 

[guitarMan]

You know I keep hearing libs, Communists and Democrats all talking about "boots on the ground". What I haven't heard is the actual president saying that he would order "boots on the ground". So my questions are, do libs want "boots on the ground"? Maybe those of the liberal, Democrat and/or Communist persuasion could be the very first "boots on the ground"since they apparently want it so badly...

 

[mark francis]

The 2003 Iraq invasion began with about 145,000 US troops, which US officials described as only “a fraction of what would be needed to invade Iran.” Iran is larger, more mountainous, and more populous than Iraq, and far more capable of sustaining prolonged resistance. Any attempt at regime change by ground conquest would, by any serious measure, require several hundred thousand troops at the outset, with vastly larger forces demanded by occupation and internal control.

Standard counterinsurgency and occupation planning by the strategists of US imperialism uses a benchmark of roughly 20–25 security personnel per 1,000 residents; applied to Iran’s population, that implies a total presence on the order of roughly 1.9 to 2.3 million troops.

A war on this scale cannot be fought without the total subordination of American society to war. The immense costs will be imposed through a massive assault on the working class. At the same time, the government will be compelled to suppress opposition by force. A prolonged war against a country of 93 million people requires not only bombs and troops abroad but a ferocious police state at home.

The utter criminality of the Trump administration’s foreign policy is inseparable from its war on the Constitution and democratic rights within the United States. The regime is openly preparing measures to rig the 2026 elections—or even suspend them entirely—through bogus claims of mass voting by “illegal aliens,” while issuing threats that opponents of its policies of war, austerity and repression will be rounded up en masse.

The Trump regime has initiated a war whose consequences they neither foresee nor control. There is an element of insanity in its actions, but it is an insanity rooted in class interests. The war against Iran arises out of decades of expanding US aggression, driven by the imperative of American imperialism to counter its economic decline through military violence.

At the same time, the Trump administration confronts an escalating political crisis at home, intensified by the Epstein revelations, which have ripped away any remaining veil from the operations of a criminal oligarchy. A government mired in crimes and threatened by growing popular anger responds as such governments always do: It seeks salvation in war.

Trump and Hegseth launch “total war” against Iran

The unprecedented language used at a Pentagon military briefing indicates that the Trump administration is preparing to use nuclear weapons in the war of aggression it began Saturday.

www.wsws.org

comrade stalln
moscow

Just because Hillary persuaded Congress to declare war on Iraq in 2002 does not mean she knew much about Iraq, about wars, about fighting, about casualties, about costs, or about any other pertinent factor.

 

[Phoenix68]

You know I keep hearing libs, Communists and Democrats all talking about "boots on the ground". What I haven't heard is the actual president saying that he would order "boots on the ground".

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....NOR would you see him write such a thing....kinda the same way all notes, from Helsinki, "disappeared"!!
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"Former White House officials describe Trump’s habit of ripping up documents!"
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"I don't know nothin' about....ANYTHING!! It had to be someone-else....maybe Eric."
.​

 

[guitarMan]

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....NOR would you see him write such a thing....kinda the same way all notes, from Helsinki, "disappeared"!!
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View attachment 29461
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"Former White House officials describe Trump’s habit of ripping up documents!"
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View attachment 29462
"I don't know nothin' about....ANYTHING!! It had to be someone-else....maybe Eric."
.​

...or was that FORMER "official" talking about Nancy Pelosi who is on camera tearing up the SOTU speech?