Ben Norton

This statement is ridiculous on so many levels. It doesn’t mention that the US and Israel started this war of aggression by attacking Iran. It doesn't mention that these countries host US military bases, some of which are being used to attack Iran! They're complicit! Even more outrageous is the fact that, in this statement, these countries cite article 51 of the UN Charter, which says states have the right to self-defense, implying that they have the legal right to retaliate against Iran -- but they don't think Iran has the right to retaliate against US military bases after the US attacked Iran in the first place, in one of the most blatant wars of aggression in decades! Meanwhile, these odious comprador regimes are run by hypocritical lackeys of the US empire, who have done nothing to help Palestinians as their imperial patrons committed genocide. What a disgrace.

OK. Here’s the division math. It does not work. The US cannot occupy Iran even with a draft. Active duty: US Army — 11 Marines — 3 Reserves: National Guard — 8 Total: No draft — 22 Draft 18mo — 2 24mo — 4 38mo — 10 Peak global strength with full draft — 32 (With a draft the constraint is training them fast enough, and outfitting them as combat capable infantry divisions.) Permanent deterrence lockup Korea — 1 (not available to redeploy) Japan — 1 (perhaps available to redeploy) Europe — 3 (maybe one can be redeployed) Total locked up on deterrence missions — 3 Potentially available for Iran: 3mo — 8 6mo — 16 12mo — 18 18mo — 22 24mo — 24 36mo — 30 BUT you can only field half the divisions at a time bc they have to come back stateside for R&R, maintenance, retrofitting. Actual max divisions that can be fielded: 3mo — 6 6mo — 8 12mo — 9 18mo — 11 24mo — 12 36mo — 15 You need 4 divisions to occupy Tehran alone. Iran has a population of 90 million, incl at least 30m men of military age. Even if you go with the super light model or the early Iraq war, you need 36. With the light COIN model you need 60. It’s not possible to do this even with a draft.

Tulsi Gabbard is an enormous fraud. She was a psyop specialist from the US Army Psychological Operations Command who cynically campaigned as a supposed "anti-war" candidate to sheepdog Americans to vote for Trump, and now she supports his imperialist war of aggression on Iran.

Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country.  The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions.  After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion.