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Paul Sonne and Missy Ryan, Stars and Stripes/Washington Post: Could US fight dual wars in N. Korea, Iran? Strategists say military toll would be almost unfathomable
The seeming collapse of the North Korea summit and the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal have led top officials in the Trump administration to once again make veiled references to military action, with President Donald Trump most recently touting American might in a speech Friday at the U.S. Naval Academy.
But beyond the saber-rattling is a sobering reality well known by strategists and planners at the Pentagon: The unlikely, worst-case scenario of sliding into open armed conflict with both Iran and North Korea simultaneously would strain the U.S. military to a degree few Americans could fathom.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has repeatedly warned that an open conflict on the Korean Peninsula alone would be catastrophic, resulting in the sort of warfare the U.S. military hasn't seen in generations. The outside chance of a conflict with Iran at the same time would present Pentagon leaders with logistical, tactical and personnel challenges unenviable for any commander.
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WNU Editor: For as long as I can remember the U.S. military has always planned for the remote possibility of having to fight two full-scale regional wars at once .... a capability that I believe the U.S. still has. But the enormous cost to fight two major war .... and its aftermath .... I do not think the will-power exists in Washington to green-light two wars, and I doubt that the American public will support fighting these wars unless the case is effectively made by its leaders that they should.
