LAND WARS in Asia have rarely gone well for America. In Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, America spent years on the ground, ensnared in conflicts for much longer than first expected.
President Donald Trump is threatening to repeat the experience by sending thousands of troops to the region and talking of invading Kharg Island, a hub for 90% of Iran's oil exports.
But if America held the island, it would hope to deny Iran much of the 2.4m to 2.8m barrels of oil that it still exports daily. Iran earns more from those exports now than it did before the war began.
However, American troops on Kharg would be exposed, and they would need regular resupply by air or sea; Iran would attack runways or ships, and would rain drones and missiles on the occupiers.
Alternatives would include seizing Iran's smaller outlying islands or raids inland against military sites. But to be more than a nuisance America would have to stage long occupations, and these would probably run into the same problems as Kharg.
The war is already sapping American military power, and the intense pressure on American ships is likely to compound a maintenance crisis in the navy.
