Overview
- Sen. Lindsey Graham, in a Fox News interview Sunday, urged President Trump to seize Iran’s Kharg Island and said two Marine Expeditionary Units were sailing there.
- He likened the move to the World War II battle of Iwo Jima, a fight that killed nearly 7,000 U.S. troops and wounded about 20,000.
- Republicans and Democrats denounced the remarks, with Rep. Nancy Mace urging his removal from the Situation Room and Rep. Jason Crow pointing to the heavy Iwo Jima toll.
- Analysts quoted by The Atlantic warned that holding Kharg would expose U.S. forces to missile and drone strikes and petrochemical smoke with shaky resupply.
- Kharg is Iran’s main oil terminal, and the White House is weighing a blockade or occupation to force the Strait of Hormuz open with no final order yet.