Could they not travel through the Red Sea, disembark in Saudi Arabia, travel across the peninsula, and then embark again in Kuwait, Bahrain, or a Saudi port? I highly doubt the US military would funnel an invasion force through the strait.

[–] REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml 17 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

To get the southern ports of Saudi-Arabia they have to get past Yemen, propably also a bad idea.

Oman might work, but no idea if the Omani government is open for such a move.

And if they make it somehow, they'd still need landing craft, escort ships and so on. The whole thing seems impractical, but I'm a amateur what do I know. Maybe the military smarty pants have a plan.

[–] shreditdude0@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I think the military smarty pants (all whom have been sacked) would have resoundingly said "DONT DO IT!".

[–] ComradeSalad@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 week ago

Going past Yemen seems much more manageable then going through the strait at any rate. But what do I know, I’m not a military general.

The naval bases at Qatar and Kuwait should also have the vast majority of the equipment that’s necessary, unless the plan is a full ground invasion of Iran which is a batshit insane idea.

[–] Bronstein_Tardigrade@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I highly doubt the US military would funnel an invasion force through the strait.

Your talking about people who were stupid enough to start a war with Iran, so steaming full bore into a meat grinder would seem par for the course. Trump probably figures if USans see their sailor boys getting massacred, they'll suddenly rally in support.

[–] ComradeSalad@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Trump might be a raving lunatic, but his generals still call the shots with logistics and deployments, and I highly doubt a trained officer would be stupid enough to authorize a convoy steam full bore through the strait.

Even a blind sycophant knows that would sink their entire career.

His general staff would probably wave a few buzzwords praising trump in a shiny PowerPoint briefing with lots of pictures to distract the dumbass, and trump would nod along and agree.

[–] PanArab@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It is still a long drive, and the narrow twisty mountain roads as well as restrictions to non-Muslims around Makkah limit the capacity.

[–] ComradeSalad@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

What twisty mountain roads? Are you aware that the Saudi Arabian peninsula is crisscrossed by a modern highway system that carves straight through the mountains? This isn’t 2005 Afghanistan. There’s also rail lines for heavier equipment.

The highway system also begins at Jeddah a major port city, and goes around Makkah, to avoid that very issue. There is no reason a US convoy would enter Makkah’s city limits.

[–] PanArab@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The طريق الهدا connects Makkah to Taif and is also used to bypass Makkah from the south.

Look it up. I've only driven through it a few times.

There is another طريق السيل الكبير which bypasses Makkah from the north it is flatter but still narrow and bendy and packed with trucks.

The road you posted I bet is somewhere in Najd, the topography looks nothing like the mountains of Hijaz.

There's no rail lines west of Riyadh except a passanger HSR connecting Makkah to Medina. Though gondolas could be an option, maybe...