Doubts about Trump’s Iran strategy spread among troops – 'Do not want to die for Israel'

Pic.: HuffPost

The possibility of an American ground operation in Iran is growing, but one service member familiar with troops in the region told HuffPost the prospect would be "an absolute disaster," ‘HuffPost’ reports.

As the U.S.-Israel war on Iran enters its fourth week and President Donald Trump orders the deployment of thousands of additional sailors and Marines to the Middle East, the troops he is counting on appear increasingly wary of the conflict.

Interviews with active duty soldiers, reservists, and advocacy groups focused on service members found some U.S. troops who are caught up in the war are reporting vulnerability, overwhelming stress, frustration and disillusionment to the degree they may leave the military.

US troops are suffering from “inadequate force protection and planning”

A military official who is treating service members evacuated from the Middle East to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany amid Iran’s retaliation said troops are suffering from “inadequate force protection and planning” and already reporting a severe, destabilizing toll from Iranian ballistic missiles and drones that have been repeatedly striking American military facilities.

A ground operation would be “an absolute disaster… we don’t have a plan for that,” the official said earlier this week. “We can’t even fully defend a single land base in the theater.”

A veteran and reservist who mentors younger officers told HuffPost her contacts are expressing a loss of faith to a new degree.

“I’m hearing out of service members’ mouths the words, ’We do not want to die for Israel — we don’t want to be political pawns,” she said. Another reservist in touch with current troops separately reported hearing similar comments.

“I’ve shared conscientious objector information six times in the past two weeks and I’ve been in the military almost 20 years — I’ve never had people reach out this way,” the first reservist continued.

Dissatisfaction and morale problems could make Trump’s campaign less likely to succeed — and hint at a lasting shift among troops that could have implications for America’s national security establishment.

The lack of a clear, consistent narrative

The lack of a clear, consistent narrative justifying the Iran war is a key source of discontent among troops, the reservists said, demoralizing those who believe a poorly planned conflict is placing them in unnecessary danger for no identifiable strategic benefit.

Iran’s retaliation has pummeled wealthy countries in the Persian Gulf that host U.S. forces and have for decades been largely spared large-scale conflicts.

Deployments to the Gulf States were, until last month, considered low-risk and, according to former Army Maj. Harrison Mann, almost laughable.

Since those facilities started facing fire, military commanders have struggled to address troops’ heightened sense of exposure, the service member said, noting worrying patterns among some personnel, like refusing to answer calls to go to a bunker amid attacks.

Meanwhile, many veterans are publicly and privately warning that Washington appears to be on the cusp of a costly quagmire akin to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.