U.S. bombs Kharg Island military targets and announces deployment of 2,500 Marines to the region as the war completes two weeks of destruction.
Kharg Island in 1973. (Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons)
FRIDAY
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
Attack on Kharg Island and a Deployment of US Marines
The two major stories of the fourteenth day of the war was a U.S. attack on Iran’s Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf and the deployment of 2,500 U.S. marines to the region perhaps presaging a U.S. ground invasion. Ninety-percent of Iranian oil exports leave from Kharg Island. The U.S. said it hit 90 military targets, including IRGC facilities, naval bases, such as Joshan, airport control towers, and helicopter hangars.
The U.S. said it deliberately avoided hitting the island’s oil installations — attempting to prevent further oil price spiking — and concentrated on the Iranian military installations. Iran vowed to attack oil installations around the Gulf if the U.S. hits Iran’s oil on the island. Donald Trump threatened to do just that if Iran continues blocking the transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz.
The second major story was the announcement that 2,500 U.S. marines aboard the U.S.S. Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, are headed to the region. This has raised speculation that the troops will either try to force open the Hormuz Strait or make a landing on Kharg Island.
A much larger force would be needed if the U.S. indeed is planning a land invasion of Iran. There are only 50,000 U.S. troops in the region. Talk of the C.I.A. arming the Kurds to invaded ended when the Kurds said they’d only go in with the support of U.S. troops. An invasion on land in a mountainous country larger than Western Europe with a population of 90 million people looks like a new Vietnam in the making.
A 2009 Rand study said half a million U.S. troops would be needed for the initial phase. And it is estimated that as many as 1.5 million would be required to occupy the country, an almost impossible task.
These are not Saddam Hussein’s troops, many of whom ran away and were shot in the back by the U.S. in 2003 or buried alive in the sand. Iran fought Iraq to a standoff in the 1980s losing as many as 750,000 soldiers. As Iranian Foreign Minister said: “We are waiting for them.”
Israel Plans Major Ground Invasion of Lebanon
Meanwhile, Israel is about to launch a major ground offensive into Lebanon to occupy the country south of the Litani river, according to Axios, which reported. “‘We are going to do what we did in Gaza,’ a senior Israeli official said, referring to the flattening of buildings Israel says Hezbollah uses to store weapons and launch attacks,” Axios said.
“The goal is to take over territory, push Hezbollah’s forces north and away from the border, and dismantle its military positions and weapons depots in the villages,” Axios reported the official as saying.
“When the enemy threatens a ground invasion, we tell him: this is not a threat, but one of the traps you will fall into,” Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said. “Because every advance of a ground invasion allows the resistance fighters to achieve gains and results through close confrontation with the enemy.
Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years, from 1982 to 2000. Hezbollah was established as a militia to resist the occupation and drove Israel out. It has been portrayed falsely as a terrorist group by Israel and its allies because it challenges Israel’s regional hegemony.
In the current conflict, 800,000 Lebanese have been displaced and at least 773 people have been killed.
Thousands Brave Bombs in Tehran on al-Quds Day
Iranians filled the streets on Friday in support of Palestine on al-Quds Day and they were greeted by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes nearby. The crowds were unfazed as seen in the video below. The country’s leaders, including the president and foreign minister, were in the street with the people.
This is probably the very best explanation of Allahu Akbar ever made and it is also realtime shown and proven in the video with real time US-Israeli bombs literally dropping almost onto the crowd pic.twitter.com/9HKIsrBI8a
— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) March 13, 2026
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at today’s Al Quds Day march in Tehran.
Could you imagine Starmer doing this? pic.twitter.com/ZKoeZFglG8— Rangzen (@revoltinghippie) March 13, 2026
Proud and honored to have accompanied the Strong and Resilient People of Iran to mark International Quds Day.
Iranians will ALWAYS stand firm and NEVER cower before cowardly attacks.
Video: Reaction of demonstrators when Tehran was bombed today is nightmare for aggressors. pic.twitter.com/0dtcHXMlTE
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 13, 2026
No, Starmer could not go into the streets of Britain, because the British people, like the people of Iran, and Ukraine, and the US, are the enemy of his class of imperialist oligarchs. The sooner that the Americans realize that about trump, and the rest of their leaders, and the citizens of the other Western imperialist countries recognize that about their appointed leaders, the better: we are not part of the imperialist oligarchs’ class, and this illegal war is not only about Iran and its oil. We are next. The oligarchs are fighting a class war against all of us.
Thankfully Christopher Hitchens is no longer around to cheer his beloved Kurds and urge on a joint U.S. Kurdish ground invasion of Iran.
I don’t believe a thing the US government says anymore. It is nothing but a PR and spin outfit. The bottom line is the US is losing badly and will never admit it. Remember what the Taliban leader in Afghanistan said. “The Americans have all the watches, but we have all of the time”. Sounds like a repeat here.
Surely the Iranians saw this coming and made plans for it.
Yes indeed. Iran knew this war was coming for decades, and have prepared accordingly.
Two weeks of destruction!! USA! USA!!
Wanton murder and mayhem!! USA! USA!!
Meaninglessness!! Nihilism!! USA! USA!!
Performative cruelty!! Sadism!! USA! USA!!
Surely there comes a time when the lies and the delirium collapse.
There is, and it is upon us.
The lady in the video explaining Allahu Akbar is precious. She is so positive and happy with a beautiful smile.
Why does america and israel want to destroy these people???? There is no rhyme or reason.
Except greed.
It is said the US misjudged her war on Iran.
I can see from these videos posted here!
Getting even 2,500 Marines onto USS Tripoli would be a squeeze. Wikipedia gives her capacity as “1,687 Marines (plus 184 surge)”. hXXps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tripoli_(LHA-7)
While fewer than the 5,000 or so on one of the big carriers, “Tripoli” can carry nearly 2,000 Marines plus a crew of over 1,000. If she enters the Gulf, she will be a sitting duck – and some of Iran’s missiles carry warheads of up to 1 ton. A salvo of those would be deadly.
But if “Tripoli” does not enter the Gulf, what use is she? She could debark the Marines at some suitable place – where might that be? Only Saudi Arabia or possibly Oman. Or they could debark to Israel or Syria and travel over land to Iran. Which would offer just as little chance of survival.