There are signs in the public domain of the movement of additional U.S. forces toward Southwest Asia, both naval and air forces. As of Jan. 16, the United States has six warships, tactical aircraft and some 30,000 troops in the region, enough to do some damage but not enough to wage a sustained campaign against Iran or deal with the aftereffects, reported The War Zone. An Iranian response could include massive barrages of short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, weapons, TWZ reports, that were left largely untouched by the 12-day war in June because they did not threaten Israel. Additional ground-based air defenses and fighters would be needed to deal with a major response, as well as naval assets.
“It would be massive,” said a former high-ranking U.S. military officer, of the scale of what it would take to attack Iran. “First, we have to get forces there; then we would need to stage and employ them; then we need to sustain them … and we would have to be prepared to do all that for a long time. It would dwarf anything we have likely done in the recent past.”
