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I write this as a soldier who, as an Infantry officer, has fought on ‘ground’ from Op BLUE STAR (the unfortunate counter insurgency conflict in Punjab in 1984, resulting in the sad, though fortunately, only partial destruction of the holiest of holy Sikh shrine), to the Northern Siachin Glacier in winters, to Kargil and years of counter terrorism operations in J&K and the NE. Besides, as a keen student of military history, have studied in great detail the campaigns in Gallipoli (first World War) to the Normandy landing of June 1944 (second World War) and several others. I give this disclaimer of sorts, not least to place on record that at the moment l do not don my geo-political or geo-strategic hat, as much as l do of the green beret of an Infantry soldier.
So, as on 30 March 2026, when l write this, a ground invasion by US Special Forces seems imminent. This, after a bruising month of intense hostility, where US, indisputably the world’s mightiest military force, has (despite US propaganda), taken a severe beating at the hands of an enemy they presumed would be a pushover, ala Venezuela. Apparently, they forgot their bitter lessons from Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and even Iraq. Not only have they lost up to 20 combatants, besides hundreds critically wounded, also at least 15 aircraft (AC), including an E3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control System), costing half a billion dollars, but their prize US fleet of USS Gerald Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln appear to be edging out of Iranian ballistic missile range. There have been uncorroborated reports of a ‘deliberate’ fire in the laundry section of an AC carrier, ostensibly because these US sailors wanted to play no further part in a war which they know they can never get the better of.
On Iran’s part, the casualties have been much higher, almost 1800 killed,unfortunately mostly civilians. They have apparently used up 5000 missiles of their seemingly unending ballistic arsenal and have severely destroyed/degraded US Air Defence (AD) capability, including the prohibitively expensive THAAD system at a cost which is ridiculously disproportionate and hugely in favour of Iran in terms of a cost-benefit ratio. Clearly the US expectations and calculations have misfired. They expected Iran to roll over and die…didn’t happen.
So, after more than a month of the war, we are no closer to the end. The report card so far? Well, one can look at it in several ways. While unquestionably, US and Israel’s combined military might has prevailed, Iran has however fought back hard and strong. The latter’s strikes on US allies in the Gulf, closure of the Hormuz Strait and now the induction of their potent non-state actor, the Houthis in the Red Sea, has taken both its adversaries by surprise. Despite the bluster, US and Israel have apparently caught the rough end of the stick. That this is spiralling into an international financial crisis is of little interest to the protagonists.
So, our friends in the USA decide, or at least contemplate,sending in more than 10000 US troops from the elite Marine Expeditionary Unit, the famous US 82nd Airborne division and others for ‘limited operations’. How limited? Limited in scope, time, geography? Is an amphibious or airborne landing on the cards? The IRGC is no pushover. They know exactly where and how the US ground forces will come and they are ready for them. It is likely to be a bloodbath. There is the Kavir desert and the Zagrov mountain and other lesser mountain ranges to cross,in case they decide to come in from the North. The Kharg island, possibly the likely objective, has difficult terrain on all sides, which the assault troops will have to negotiate against very heavy odds. Other ground targets, deeper in mainland Iran, would pose an even stiffer military challenge.
Under such circumstances, the likelihood of the US Special Forces securing a beachhead or an airhead are slim. While, over time and through sheer numerical superiority, they may succeed at some stage, it will likely come at an extremely high cost in terms of US casualties.
Is the US of today ready to accept flag draped coffins and body bags in thousands, possibly more? Clearly no. Any right thinking military analyst can see the portents, as surely the US military planners do. One can only hope that wiser counsel prevails and the US desists from a ground invasion – boots on the ground, as it is euphemistically called. The price would be unacceptably and tragically high for a war which has seemingly no defined end objective.
What next if even this gambit of ground invasion does not yield desired results as per the White House and Netanyahu’s calculus (which is rather likely)? Will the ground invasion remain ‘limited’ ? Is the next rung in the escalation ladder likely to be a tactical nuclear strike? One shudders to think.
All you hope for is that this ill conceived tactic (strategy?) is not brought to bear….and some peace and order is restored in a world riven by senseless, ego driven wars. Amen.
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