Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

ED WOODSON: The U.S. Needs Ground Troops To Win War In Iran

Flickr/szczepan.lemanczyk

Editor’s note: Big Tent Ideas always aims to provide balancing perspectives on the hottest issues of the day. Below is a column from Ed Woodson, where he argues that boots on the ground are needed in Iran and that the U.S. should take Kharg Island. You can find a counterpoint here, where Brandon J. Weichert argues against action in Iran. 

Iran is testing the resolve of the United States — and its allies — and judging from the American media, some are taking the bait.

The United States can end Iran’s gambit by seizing Kharg Island.

Kharg Island is Iran’s lifeline. As the central artery pumping oil money into the regime’s coffers, this strategic hub sustains the mullahs’ power at home and their revolutionary ambitions abroad, from Lebanon to Yemen and beyond. A targeted, decisive operation by U.S. Marines to secure Kharg Island would immediately cut off the regime’s ability to fund its remaining proxy networks, stabilize global energy markets, and demonstrate that economic blackmail will not be tolerated.

Likewise, seizing Kharg Island will devastate Iran’s ability to hold shipping lanes hostage. While not eliminating the risk of mines, this bold action will give the United States the dual victory of cutting off the money supply while achieving tactical superiority in the Strait of Hormuz.

Kharg Island’s strategic importance is clear. It serves as a critical hub for oil exports in the Persian Gulf. Controlling it would cripple the regime’s ability to fund war. There are already reports that Iran’s rank-and-file soldiers have not received a paycheck in weeks, indicating the financial toll the mullahs’ actions have had on their own population.

Thousands of U.S. Marines are already heading to the Persian Gulf. The 82^nd Airborne, whose motto is “Death from Above,” also seems ready to deploy. The only question is: what are we waiting for?

Taking Kharg would lead to the regime’s financial collapse. Without the income generated from the island’s exports, Iran would be forced to bring the war to an end — and quickly.

The United States, and, frankly, the civilized world, are on the verge of a historic victory that will reshape the geopolitical landscape for generations.

For 47 years, Iran’s radical Islamic regime has destabilized the Middle East, funded terrorism, sown chaos with its neighbors, and threatened global security. Thanks to the actions of the United States and its partner Israel, that malignant influence has been crippled. Iran’s terror networks are weakened, its ability to wage offensive war is decimated, its leadership has been obliterated, and its funding for murderous proxies has dried up.

We are on the cusp of a more stable Middle East. A lasting peace is finally within reach.

But the job isn’t done.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the world cannot allow these homicidal fanatics the ability to have a nuclear weapon — and our brave B-1 and B-52 bomber pilots are ensuring that will not happen. However, like a man in his death throes, the Iranian regime is lashing out.

The mullahs are attacking their Arab neighbors, including sympathetic Qatar. After denying possessing intercontinental missiles capable of reaching Europe, Iran fired two ballistic missiles with ranges exceeding 3,500 kilometers.

The Iranian regime has also decided to choke off oil shipments to the world, an action that has driven up gas prices and threatened a global recession. Using the chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz, the regime’s attack on shipping and threats to mine the entire area have slowed vital energy shipments to a crawl.

This is not a military maneuver; it is a political one.

Ed Woodson is a lawyer and conservative talk radio host who guest hosts for Laura Ingraham.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Flickr/szczepan.lemanczyk)