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Notes -
https://nationaltoday.com/us/tn/hunter-tn/news/2026/03/31/us-deploys-special-forces-airborne-troops-to-middle-east/
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/30/thousands-of-us-army-paratroopers-arrive-in-middle-east-as-buildup-intensifies/
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/25/pentagon-orders-thousands-of-troops-to-deploy-to-middle-east/
These are mostly paratroopers, heavy equipment will take longer to be brought in if at all, given sealift constraints. But perhaps the idea is that heavy forces won't be needed for the start of the campaign since they'll mostly be fighting Iraqis? Plus the cost-effectiveness of heavy armour has declined in recent years.
Or perhaps they're going for a more ambitious offensive to win the war quickly. IDK. Far too few to get anything serious done I think. The invasion of Ukraine required about 300K Russian troops and that clearly was not enough, so what are 80K at most Americans going to do?
Get killed, I guess? The coast there looks like a defender's dream and an attacker's nightmare. People talk about how China is going to struggle to land on Taiwan, but the US forces are likely to take heavy casualties and perhaps fail altogether here.
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