Several reports this week into Thursday say the Trump administration is quietly weighing a major escalation – potentially deploying thousands of additional troops to the Middle East as the White House struggles to map out an end game in Iran, according to Reuters. Interestingly, the Reuters report doesn’t include the phrase that Trump strongly campaigned against: ‘boots on the ground’. Instead the report framed things more simply as “US weighs military reinforcements as Iran war enters possible new phase.” Are the American people being slowly prepped for ground action? Officials say the buildup would give Trump “additional options” with the war having dragged far past the initial pledges of ‘days’ or some kind of brief in and out Venezuela-style op. Driving all of this is of course control of the Strait of Hormuz, given there are few options for guarantee tanker traffic through the chokepoint. After the Pentagon bombed some 90 military sites on Iran’s oil export hub Kharg Island last weekend, the US is running up against the obvious limitations of a purely air and naval campaign. In a scenario that screams escalation, discussions now include deploying US troops directly to Iran’s coastline to secure the passage. The even more aggressive […]