S8 Ep614: 14. The Kharg Island Gambit and Vietnam Parallels Guest: Henry Sokolski Summary: Sokolski discusses reports that the US is considering an invasion of Iran’s Kharg Island to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He draws historical parallels to the initial 1965 esc
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John Batchelor
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🗓️ 21 March 2026
⏱️ 6 minutes
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Summary
14. The Kharg Island Gambit and Vietnam Parallels Guest: Henry Sokolski Summary: Sokolski discusses reports that the US is considering an invasion of Iran’s Kharg Island to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He draws historical parallels to the initial 1965 escalation of the Vietnam War. (15)
DECEMBER 1954
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batch with Henry Sikolsky, the executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, |
| 0:22.1 | we've been entertaining nuclear incidents. |
| 0:24.3 | That's not my language. |
| 0:26.0 | That's the language of the World Health Organization. |
| 0:28.7 | We now turn to the question of Boots on the Ground. |
| 0:34.0 | The headline in London in these last hours, read by our allies who are not participating as of yet in clearing the Strait of Formos or guaranteeing shipment of natural gas and oil to our European allies and to our Asian trading partners. |
| 0:52.2 | This headline, President considers invading Karg Island. |
| 0:57.2 | What are we talking about? |
| 0:58.4 | This is London. |
| 0:59.9 | U.S. President deploys marine units to Middle East |
| 1:03.8 | in attempt to pressure Tehran into reopening staff of Hormuz. |
| 1:08.4 | That's the consideration at the White House, not denial, consideration. |
| 1:14.1 | It goes on. Donald Trump is considering invading Iran's cargo island to pressure Tehran |
| 1:20.2 | into reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Three separate marine units reports London, |
| 1:26.5 | trained for amphibious assaults, have been deployed |
| 1:29.1 | to the Middle East, with the Pentagon considering sending more to reinforce Operation Epic Fury. |
| 1:36.0 | Carg Island, located 15 miles off Iran's coast in the Persian Gulf, is Iran's main oil export |
| 1:42.4 | terminal and critical to its fragile economy. |
| 1:46.5 | Blockading or occupying five-mile strip of land would allow Washington to gain leverage in talks to reopen the strait. |
| 1:53.6 | That's enough. |
| 1:54.8 | Henry, you and I are older men, but when we were teenagers, March of 1965, exactly now, a news item came in that was read |
| 2:07.1 | then on the radio. We didn't have the Internet or iPhones. And it said that the president, |
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