Transcript
News Anchor (0:00)
Back in the Middle east, the New York Times reports that, quote, Iran said on Friday that it had warned three ships not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a day after Mr. Trump extended a US deadline for Tehran to reopen the waterway. And as much as Donald Trump has been talking about striking a peace deal and as reporting suggests he wants to end, the war, Department of Defense officials tell the Wall Street Journal that, quote, the Pentagon is looking at sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle east to give the President more military options. The force, which would likely include infantry and armored vehicles, would be added to the roughly 5,000 Marines and the thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division who have already been ordered to the region. It is unclear where precisely forces will go in the Middle east, but they will likely be within striking distance of Iran and Kharg Island, a crucial oil export hub off Iran's coast. Mixed messages from the Trump administration as the war rages on. Why would he send them if he did not plan to use them?
Military Analyst (1:03)
So that's a more credible force for some types of operation. Seizing Cargill, for example, maybe doing some raids or some smaller operations in the vicinity of the Strait itself. It's not a force that's going to invade Iran and try to overrun the country. You'd have to have a force several times, at least bigger than that to do that. So it does increase the options the administration has, but they're not very good options. Iran is fighting an asymmetric fight. The cyberattack you just talked about is a piece of that. The closing of those Straits of Hormuz, which I don't think this force can fundamentally reverse, is another part of it. So we're in a type of conflict that, for reasons that mystify me, the administration did not anticipate, did not prepare for, and did not think through the consequences of. So that's where we are.
Reporter (1:51)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters a short time ago that he was expecting Iran's response to a US Peace proposal at any moment. The Trump administration has offered Tehran a 15 point plan to end the war. And this comes as the two sides could potentially begin face to face negotiations in the near future. At the same time, the US Is sending thousands of troops to the Middle east, though Secretary Rubio says that Iranian military capabilities can be destroyed by without putting any American troops on the ground.
Government Official (2:19)
Listen, we can achieve, we are achieving all those objectives. We are ahead of schedule on most of them and we can achieve them without any ground troops, without Any. Now, in terms of why there's deployments, number one, the President has to be prepared for multiple contingencies, which I'm not going to discuss in the media. And again, I refer you to the Department of War, who will probably tell you the exact same thing. But we can achieve all of our objectives with our ground troops. But we are always going to be prepared to give the President maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust to contingencies should they emerge.