Fox guest says ground troops will be “required” for Trump to accomplish his stated objectives in Iran war
Mike Jernigan: “Boots on the ground is a significant investment of American lives and force, but also I think it's required”
Published
Citation
From the March 31, 2026, edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom
MIKE JERNIGAN (RETIRED MARINE OFFICER): Boots on the ground is a significant investment of American lives and force, but also I think it's required. If we go back to the original objectives that the president stated when he started this war, two of them remain, of making sure that the Iranians do not be able to fund or arm proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah come to mind, but also to make sure that the Iranians do not ever have a nuclear weapon or the capability to make one.
And so, we're talking about about 940 pounds of enriched uranium, and somebody has to go in and get that. And I think that the boots on the ground is valuable, because I kind of remember some of the adventure movies I watched. The good guys win and then there's a blockbuster and they decide that the bad guy has to seek revenge. If we don't put boots on the ground and take the Iranians' uranium, then we may have a sequel, and then this — nobody wants the Iran war to become a franchise.