Mission Creep ...

The U.S.S. Tripoli entering the Singapore Strait earlier this month. The 2,500 Marines who have been dispatched to the Middle East are part of the U.S.S. Tripoli amphibious ready group.
Credit...Edgar Su/Reuters

Mission creep applies. The more troops, the deeper the US sinks into the quagmire of it's own making. No plan, hubris rules as no problem, we got this according to the troika of the Orange Menace, Nosferatu (Stephen Miller) and Pentagon Pete because god is on our side and fighting and dying for Israel is the right thing to do, right?

Smoke rises from the direction of an energy installation in the Gulf emirate of Fujairah on March 14, 2026. Smoke could be seen rising from the direction of a major UAE energy installation on March 14, in what appeared to be the latest strike targeting the Gulf’s petroleum facilities hours after the US struck Iran’s Kharg Island. - | Afp | Getty Images

In the FT interview, Trump said that “my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people.”

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump said. “It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while.” The White House and the U.S. State Department didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

The president then added to the commentary Monday morning, warning that the U.S. would “completely” obliterate Iran’s electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island if the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz is not “immediately” reopened and a peace deal is not reached “shortly.” Iran has not yet commented on Trump’s latest remarks.

Mission creep ...

The arrival of 2,500 Marines and another 2,500 sailors is keeping the number of American troops in the Mideast region at over 50,000 — roughly 10,000 more than usual — as President Trump decides on his next step in his month-old war in Iran.

While it is still unclear just what the Marines, from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, will be charged with, U.S. officials say the president is weighing whether to try a larger attack, like venturing to seize an island or other ground as part of Mr. Trump’s effort to open the Strait of Hormuz.

The narrow waterway, through which around 20 percent of the world’s oil usually traverses, has been largely closed because of attacks by Iranian forces who are retaliating against the U.S. and Israeli war on their country.

Usually there are around 40,000 American troops scattered around at bases and on ships at any time around the region, including in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. But as Mr. Trump has escalated the war in Iran, that number has reached more than 50,000, according to a U.S. military official.

Nosferatu lives