Egregoros

"An attack on Kharg Island, however, would provide the media impact Trump is looking for. There would be no threat of FPV drone strikes from the mainland due to the distance, and the island itself is small (21 sq km) with a relatively limited Iranian military presence. "
HOLLY FUCK Does the us actually believe that? The shortest range iranian fpv drone has a range of 40-50kms. It can be launched from the iranian shore and reach every part of the island.

Yeah I read that and instantly discarded everything else he said. The island is a death trap and the IRGC is salivating at the chance to get wet

But, the Strait is an even worse option. Really 'Scylla and Charybdis' vibes

that's assuming the invade it. What happens if the US just decides to destroy every piece of Iran's oil infrastructure

Then Iran destroys every piece of oil and natgas infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain . . . You get the picture

They are perfectly capable of doing this and have said/demonstrated as much

Iran doesn't need oil infrastructure, and destroying GCC infra isn't in their interest. They can just switch to operating a toll booth, they don't need to produce any oil.

as I've mentioned before, I don't think the world is keen on Iran doing a mafia tactic on the globe and will look the other way if a bigger bully roughs them up.

The US is not doing all that great with the roughing up.

Iran will give a sweetheart deal to China. What anybody else can do about it?

Iran was already giving China a sweetheart deal. As to what can be done about it - at this point, lots of things.

It's obvious that the US can level every inch of Iran's oil production, and they can certainly damage the rest of the persian gulf's oil.

If people believe that Iran is going to do that anyway, they'll end up blaming Iran for a retaliation they do against the US if the US attacks first, which ultimately wouldn't be a good situation for them.

Iran is not currently targeting/destroying Arab oil infra to any significant extent. There were a few symbolic hits to show "we could do this".

If Blormpf wipes out Iran's infra and in return Iran does the same to the Arabs, the world will blame Blormpf. Not just with starting this retarded war, but also with escalating to world economic destruction levels.

Exactly right

Plus, the U.S. military's performance has actually been quite pathetic. The Air Force magazine admitted to losing at least 20 aircraft against an enemy with little to no air force.

Yes. This is not a sustainable loss pattern for a deindustrialized country

Twenty one now

Funny because the US has relied on air supremacy for a long time. It’s their only gimmick.

Fight the battle YOU want to fight, not the one the enemy wants. Simple as