Ex-military officials warns Trump’s next plan a 'disaster waiting to happen'

President Donald Trump returns to the White House, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Washington, D.C., March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

President Donald Trump has refused to rule out the possibility of putting boots on the ground for his ongoing war in Iran, despite consternation from his own party, but according to one former senior military official who spoke with MS NOW, such a move would be a "disaster waiting to happen."

Trump recently ordered a deployment of troops to the Middle East from the 82nd Airborne Division, joining thousands of other troops already stationed in the region. While they have not yet been ordered into a ground invasion of Iran, as some fear, Trump has refused to give clear answers about what they have been deployed for, while those close to him stress that he is leaving all options on the table.

"About 3,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division are preparing to deploy to the region, 2,500 Marines will arrive within days, and a second group of 2,500 Marines will arrive within weeks," MS NOW explained in a report from Thursday. "The 8,000 troops, though, are a small fraction of the 150,000 U.S. troops who invaded Iraq in 2003."

Some suspect that Trump is plotting to use some of those forces to either destroy or seize control of Kharg Island, an outpost just off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf through which 90 percent of the country's oil exports are moved. Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's most hawkish allies, has said that "He who controls Kharg Island, controls the destiny of this war," while the president has previously spoken about the possibility of taking control of it in a 1988 interview unearthed by MS NOW.

One former senior military official, speaking with the outlet anonymously, warned that an attempt to take the island would not go well for Trump, saying "it’s a disaster waiting to happen if that’s their mission." Vali Nasr, a leading expert on Iran and a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University, also told MS NOW that such an operation would only make things worse.

“Taking Kharg means destroying it, and Iran will respond with major escalation,” Nasr explained. “Taking Iranian land and destroying its oil export depot will mean [the] beginning of a war of resistance in Iran.”

The possibility of troops being deployed on the ground in Iran has faced the expected pushback from Democrats, with Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts saying it would explode the conflict "into a ‘forever war.'"

"This whole war is really stupid," the congressman added. "[Trump is] losing it and he doesn’t have a way to get out of it.”

An increasing number of Republicans are also pushing back, with Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina calling out Graham's comments about deploying troops as talk of sending "someone else’s kids to war," while Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida called his comments "unacceptable and dark."

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