What U.S. Marines Can Do to Help Reopen the Strait of Hormuz
President Trump is pressing aides and allies to find ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as gas prices rise. His best bet might be the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Pentagon has deployed the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, a rapid-response force of about 2,200 Marines, to the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. could use the unit to seize one or more of the islands off the southern coast of Iran to use as leverage or as a base to counter Iranian attacks on commercial shipping, according to former and current U.S. officials. The unit, aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, is slated to arrive in the Middle East from Japan in just over a week.
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Instead of destroying Kharg’s oil infrastructure, the Marines could seize the island so the U.S. could use it as leverage to reopen the strait, according to experts and former officials.
“Kharg Island, 90% of their oil comes through there. So you’ve got really two choices,” said retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former commander of U.S. Central Command. “You can destroy the oil infrastructure, which would give irrevocable damage to the Iranian economy and the global economy, or you could seize it to use as a bargaining chip, which doesn’t then permanently degrade the world economy.”
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Originally published in the Wall Street Journal.