Quagmire Fears Surge As Trump Weighs 'Final Blow' Iran Options

Brandan Buck, a research fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute who has criticized the war from the start, warned in a recent blog post that“any serious American invasion of Iran would likely rival or exceed the scale of Vietnam or the 1991 Gulf War, making it the largest US military undertaking since the Second World War.”

“Looking to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a similar invasion of Iran, given its population size, would require as many as 1.6 million troops,” Buck noted.“Trump's ill-considered decision to launch the war, coupled with his vague-but-ambitious goals, has made this impossible scenario a military possibility. Given the horrific costs such an invasion would entail, however, Trump should choose a different path: declare 'victory' and de-escalate.”

Fears of an imminent ground invasion have spread to Republicans who were otherwise supportive of the Trump administration's decision to attack Iran. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who earlier this month voted against a resolution that aimed to stop the war, wrote on social media Wednesday afternoon that she“will not support troops on the ground in Iran.”

Mace's post came shortly after she left a closed-door House Armed Services Committee briefing on Iran. The Republican lawmaker said she was“even more” opposed to a ground invasion following Wednesday's briefing.

“The justifications presented to the American public for the war in Iran were not the same military objectives we were briefed on today in the House Armed Services Committee,” Mace wrote in a separate post on Wednesday.“This gap is deeply troubling. The longer this war continues, the faster it will lose the support of Congress and the American people.”

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who celebrated the US-Israeli bombing of Iran when it kicked off last month, told reporters following Wednesday's briefing – nearly a month into the war - that“we want to know more about what's going on, what the options are, and why they're being considered.”

Rogers noted that Trump“has a well-documented pattern of escalating on Friday night, after the markets close.”

House Democratic leaders, meanwhile, faced backlash for reportedly deciding to punt a vote on an Iran war powers resolution until at least mid-April, even amid mounting evidence that the Trump administration is barreling headlong toward an illegal and potentially catastrophic ground assault.

“Congress is in session until Friday, after which they will go on a two-week recess,” noted Nathan Thompson, senior policy adviser at Just Foreign Policy.“Trump has a well-documented pattern of escalating on Friday night, after the markets close. If House Democrats and [the House Foreign Affairs Committee] wait until after the recess, the damage could be done.”