Measuring Lethality: Army Combat Power and Force Design

President Trump has threatened to do this before [withdraw from NATO]. It is part of, I think, the theatrical, the performative aspect of how he does politics. It could likely be very much designed to put pressure on the United Kingdom, on allies and NATO to do something and do so quickly, because President Trump very likely feels like he's backed himself into a corner now, and is running out of options. So to deflect and to blame, I think, is part his strategy, his communication strategy at the moment."

One key issue for European countries is the issue of legality,” said Kamil Zwolski, a fellow on terrorism and conflict studies at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). “What Europeans mean when they say that this war has no legal basis is that the United Nations has not approved it – there was no resolution. They also mean that this is not a war of self-defense, because there was no evidence of imminent attack of Iran against the US or Israel...At the minimum, what they also mean is that this war was not agreed by NATO allies. They were not consulted,” Zwolski told CNN.

It's a narrow strait, it's only 20 miles across at its narrowest point. On the Iranian side, there are mountains and islands. It's pretty easy for the Iranians to hide weapon systems, hide sensors, move them around and to hide behind islands and in valleys and so on. So it's much easier for them to attack shipping than it is for a coalition or a single country to protect it. And so I think what we're talking about...if the fight is still ongoing, is that the Strait of Hormuz is a kill zone and it's going to be pretty difficult to protect shipping going through that."