“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” Donald Trump told the New York Post this week. Referring to Iran, he added that while he probably doesn’t need them, he would deploy ground troops “if necessary.”

With those words, the administration cracked open a door most American strategists hoped was bolted shut by half a century of hard lessons.

Modern American military history is a graveyard of campaigns that began with overwhelming tactical success and ended in strategic failure.

Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign, has already delivered what hawks in Washington have wanted for decades: the decapitation of Iran’s top leadership. The strikes that killed Ali Khamenei were meant to trigger a rapid collapse of the Islamic Republic. Early evidence points to something messier — and more dangerous.

The fundamental flaw in the administration’s logic is simple: Removing a leader does not remove a regime.

Khamenei is dead, but the Iranian state remains. A temporary leadership council has already formed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps still holds the monopoly on force. Worse, strikes that reportedly killed hundreds of civilians — including more than 100 children in Minab — handed the regime a fresh narrative. Instead of a unified, pro-Western uprising, many Iranians are responding with nationalist anger and a predictable desire for revenge.

That reality should end any talk of “finishing the job” with a ground invasion.

Modern American military history is a graveyard of campaigns that began with overwhelming tactical success and ended in strategic failure. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Iraq. In each, the “mission accomplished” moment became the prologue to years of insurgency, political collapse, and sunk costs.

In Vietnam, the U.S. won battles and lost the country because it could not produce a legitimate political alternative.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, trillion-dollar investments in nation-building crumbled once American security guarantees lifted.

If the United States shifts from air strikes to a ground presence in Iran, it will collide with problems it cannot solve.

Start with geography and scale. Iran is a country of nearly 90 million people, with mountainous terrain that functions as a natural fortress. A serious occupation would require a troop commitment the American public will not support — and it would likely exceed anything seen in Iraq.

RELATED: Hegseth just delivered a precision strike on the legacy media

Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

Then comes the legal and constitutional crisis at home. Trump has prosecuted this war without a formal declaration — and without meaningful consultation with Congress. That bypasses the democratic safeguard meant to force elected representatives to weigh blood and treasure.

Escalating to a ground war on such a foundation invites a domestic political firestorm, fracturing the country at the very moment unity matters most. Disregard for constitutional norms does not merely weaken the rule of law; it undermines the legitimacy of the mission.

Next, look at the internal politics of Iran. The administration appears to hope Iran’s grievances can be leveraged against the regime. History suggests the opposite. Foreign boots on the ground almost always unify a population against the invader. An invasion would turn a struggle for internal reform into a war of national liberation and hand hardliners their best recruiting tool.

The anger in Tehran is not necessarily pro-regime. It is a primal response to foreign violation.

Finally, consider the regional fallout. The “Axis of Resistance” has already begun responding — drone activity, base attacks, threats to shipping and energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Six U.S. service members have already died in retaliatory strikes. A ground invasion would expand the conflict into a full regional war, drawing in proxies and potentially major powers into a fight Washington cannot afford and cannot control.

A ground invasion would not be brief, as Pete Hegseth has suggested. It would become a generational entanglement.

Washington can destroy targets. It cannot manufacture a stable, pro-Western political order at the point of a bayonet. Ignore the failures of the past and you guarantee a disaster in the future.

​Iran, Operation epic fury, Boots on the ground, Iraq war, Trump, Ayatollah ali khamenei, Israel, Ground invasion, Opinion & analysis 

When LeBron James opened up about cherishing time with his children during the NBA season, the conversation took an unexpected turn. After quickly correcting an interviewer that his daughter plays volleyball, not basketball, James joked that his wife is “done with this basketball s**t.”

And BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is curious as to why that is.

“I miss a lot of moments, you know, spending time with my kids because of my career, and, you know, any time I get over the course of my career, any time I got moments with them either individually, two of them, three of them all together, whatever the case may be, is always special for me,” James said.

“So, to have my daughter want to come on the road and be with me and spend a lot of time — yesterday we went to Alcatraz,” he continued.

When an interviewer interjected and commented on her playing basketball, James quickly responded, “She’s a volleyball player. Don’t get my wife mad. My wife is done with this basketball s**t.”

“I think LeBron very cleverly is protecting his wife and protecting them from the truth, is LeBron James and Savannah James want no part of sending their daughter into that LGBTQIA+ silent P women’s basketball world,” Whitlock speculates.

“They’re not raising a lesbian, and they want her in volleyball,” he adds.

Dre Baldwin believes it could be a different reason, explaining that it seems to him like “he just doesn’t want to even put that spotlight on his daughter the way it was on his sons.”

“And maybe his daughter might be better at volleyball than she is at basketball. And another kid who he doesn’t want feeling the pressure of having to quote, unquote ‘make it’ in a highly competitive space like basketball,” Baldwin continues.

“But, now that you bring that up, I hadn’t thought of that. That is an interesting angle, and I wouldn’t be mad at LeBron and Savannah if that is indeed their reason,” he adds.

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The Texas family of a 16-year-old girl who went missing from their hotel in Tennessee suspect the man she ended up with contacted her through online sites and apps.

North Carolina police said in a press release that the family had been visiting a relative in Tennessee when they reported the girl missing to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday.

‘Just because you are watching the social media — you need to watch all the social media.’

On Monday, the Rockingham Sheriff’s Office said it was contacted about the girl’s location hundreds of miles away, and deputies found her with a 27-year-old man named Dakota Wayne Vettor.

Police said the teen was placed into the custody of the Rockingham County Department of Social Services until she could be returned to her parents.

Vettor was interviewed and charged with felony abduction of children.

The parents told WGHP-TV that they were able to determine the girl’s location through her online apps. They said they believe the girl met the man through online gaming apps and social media sites.

“I just wish I could have done more,” said a tearful Jason Poston, the father of the victim.

“Once the relief sets in, it’s definitely a, ‘I should have seen,’ … ‘maybe if I’d have done this or that.’ Unfortunately that’s one of those hindsight things,” said a visibly shaken Jess Poston, the mother.

They had a warning for parents who allow their children access to online apps and websites.

“Just because you are watching the social media — you need to watch all the social media,” the father said.

RELATED: ‘Sadistic’ PA man raped and cut 13-year-old girl at California motel after grooming her on Discord, feds say

The parents said they had a simple message to their child when they were reunited.

“We love you,” Jason Poston recalled saying to her.

“That’s all we could say,” Jess Poston added.

Vettor was ordered to be held on a $250,000 secured bond, and police said further charges are expected to be filed.

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​Poston teenager kidnapping, Girl meets predator online, Online child predators, 16-year-old kidnapped, Crime 

Author and podcast host Larry Alex Taunton believes there’s a reason America is under religious siege, and it’s because most Americans don’t understand the theological and political foundations of Islam — which is why so many have now come out in support of Iran after President Trump’s strikes.

BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler is not among them.

“The Islamification of the United States of America is under way as we speak. And no, it doesn’t make me an Islamophobe or a xenophobe or a racist or a bigot to say so,” Wheeler says.

And Taunton couldn’t agree more.

“A major problem here, Liz, is that Americans really don’t, Westerners in general really don’t understand Islam,” Taunton says, explaining that he’s been investigating the no-go zones of Paris — and there are some already forming in America.

“Places like Minneapolis, Dearborn, they’re future no-go zones — already no-go zones. And they’re future Gazas, you know. They’re kind of places that become staging areas, you know, for terrorist attacks or the kind of places where terrorists flee to when they’re attacked,” he tells Wheeler.

“This is what happened in Paris after the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the Bataclan, where more than 100 were killed by Islamic terrorists,” he says.

And while there are politicians pushing to ban Sharia law, Taunton doesn’t believe that’s the answer.

“I can appreciate that, but you got to go after the root of the tree, and we have to ban Islam. And some would say, ‘Well, isn’t Islam protected?’ … My argument is no, it is not,” he explains.

Taunton points out that not only was their prophet Muhammad a murderer, but he was a pedophile.

“They’re supposed to read the Quran. They’re supposed to read the Hadith. They’re supposed to do the things that are commanded in it. And what we call radicals aren’t really radicals, Liz. They’re orthodox Muslims,” he tells Wheeler.

“And when you practice that religion according to those three things, which is what orthodox Islam is, it is by definition anti-constitutional. And that’s because it doesn’t believe in freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of petition, freedom of press. Doesn’t believe in any of those things,” he continues.

“So, that religion is by definition contrary to our own laws, not just the spirit of our laws, not just our culture, but it’s against our laws,” he adds.

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The Democratic primary race for Texas’ redrawn 18th district is headed for a runoff after the 78-year-old congressman failed to get over 50% of the vote.

Rep. Al Green will face Rep. Christian Menefee, who is only 37 years old, in the runoff election on May 26.

Green had accused Menefee of making a ‘deal with the devil’ to gain the support of the cryptocurrency industry.

Green was first elected in 2004 but chose to run in the 18th district after Republicans redrew his district to tilt more Republican.

With nearly all the votes counted, Menefee has only 46% of the vote, while Green garnered 44.2%.

The winner of the runoff will face Ronald Whitfield, who won with 55.1% of the Republican primary votes over the 44.9% garnered by Elizabeth Vences.

Menefee complained to his supporters Tuesday evening that Green had run a “negative campaign” against him.

“Congressman, you can talk all your trash about me,” Menefee said, addressing Green. “I’m going to keep being focused on integrity, on standing firm, on doing the right thing, and on serving my communities.”

Green had accused Menefee of making a “deal with the devil” to gain the support of the cryptocurrency industry and said it aligned Menefee with “Trump crypto cronies.”

He also responded to Menefee by saying that he was “talking truthful trash” when he accused Menefee of not showing up for work.

RELATED: Democrat releases statement on sexual assault allegations from 2008

Green recently made headlines when he interrupted the president’s State of the Union address and held up a banner reading, “Black people aren’t apes,” in reference to a controversial video posted to the president’s social media page. He was kicked out of the chamber.

The elderly Democrat also faced sexual harassment allegations, which he denied, and was censured by Congress when he interrupted a different Trump speech before a joint session of Congress.

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​Rep al green vs menefee, Texas runoff in 18th district, Al green fails to win nomination, Republican redistricting in texas, Politics