The Post-Journal

 

Mother Nature Interferes With

Warfare

                                                                            Mar 14, 2026

Rolland Kidder

Sometimes we think that, as humans, with all of our technology, we can conquer anything. It just takes a hurricane or a flood to remind us of who really is in charge.

The same is true in warfare. You can have all of the fancy software and technology in the world–but war still takes place over real terrain in real places.

I was thinking of this recently when the war news came out that some 200 oil tankers were trapped, stuck in the Persian Gulf because of the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Through that strait runs 20% of the world’s oil, so with its closing, oil prices jumped from $50 a barrel to over $80 a barrel.

President Trump said essentially, “no problem, we will have the U.S. Navy escort these oil tankers safely through the Strait of Hormuz.” End of problem.

When the President made the statement, I doubt that he had spoken with any of the Navy ship’s captains who would have to undertake that mission.

The Strait of Hormuz, at its narrowest, is a little over 20 miles wide…you can see across it. Not all of that 20 miles is deep enough for the massive tankers that carry oil. Of the 20 miles, there are two, two mile-wide lanes–one for tankers coming into the Gulf and the other for tankers exiting the Gulf.

So, you get all of the stranded tankers lined up and escorted by a couple of U.S. Destroyers/Frigates and start these convoys through the Strait of Hormuz. What happens then? I would suppose that every missile and drone still left in Iran would have the coordinates of that small space zeroed in–it would be like “shooting ducks in a barrel.”

“Maybe, on second thought,” some of the tanker ship’s captains would say, “we shouldn’t try to run this gauntlet.” Some of these tankers are bigger than aircraft carriers and are easy targets. And, if one or two of these ships were sunk, that could really bottle up the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.

The geography of the world is what it is. The Strait of Hormuz is narrow, and it is still there. We cannot bomb it or wish it away. Mother nature has again dictated what the battlefield will be.

The whole issue reminded me of another body of water, a bit over 20 miles wide at its narrowest–the English Channel. It protected England against attack for hundreds of years, including the Spanish Armada.

Yet, it also delayed our invasion of Europe in World War II. It was only after a massive buildup of hundreds of ships, planes and thousands of men that we were successively able to cross it and invade France on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

The earth and the sea can get in the way of those who go to war. Ignorance of geography and terrain is no excuse. What mother nature has put in the way must be understood and respected.

Rolland Kidder is a former U.S. Naval Officer and a Stow resident.

                     Jamestown Post-Journal

We Should Know Wars Are Hard To End

Local Commentaries

Mar 7, 2026

Rolland Kidder

 It is easy to start a war, but very difficult to end one. That has always been the case and still is. If you are in doubt, just ask Vladamir Putin how things are going in the war he started in Ukraine four years ago.

Think about the Iraq War. We invaded Iraq in 2003. Saddam Hussein was finally captured and eventually executed. But here we are in 2026, having lost 4,500 American lives and having spent a trillion dollars or more, with troops still in Iraq, a country with a weak government trying to rebuild itself.

The war I was involved in, Vietnam, started in 1964–but, at least, it began with a Joint Resolution of Congress…not by Presidential fiat. It officially ended for us in 1973 with 58,000 American war dead as testimony to it.

As a veteran, I have written before in this space, about the realities of war. When you are in one, you soon realize war is caused by failure–negotiations have failed, diplomacy has failed, communication has failed, keeping the peace has failed.

Sometimes wars are unavoidable, but every effort should be made to avoid them. Wars are an admission of failure.

I was hoping that President Trump’s decision to bomb the main operational center where Iran was making its atomic bomb last year would end, at least for now, concerns about Iran making a nuclear weapon. Trump certainly suggested that in his comments that, as a result of that attack, Iran’s nuclear program had been “totally obliterated.”

But, easy success often doesn’t lead to caution. Now, with only Israel as an ally, we have committed thousands of American troops, aircraft, and naval forces to commence what could be another long-term war in the Middle East.

Wars are not only hard to end, but they are unpredictable.

There is no doubt that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a tyrant. Hopes are that somehow better leadership will rise up in Iran…but will it? Some in Iran are rejoicing in the streets, others are demonstrating in support of the Supreme Leader who was killed. Iran could end up with worse leadership or with a prolonged leadership struggle.

Just think of what would happen in this country if our President, Vice President and many of our leaders were killed…it would create a leadership vacuum even here.

It is an unsettling time to be an American. Our country, with only one ally, has now made a decision to become fully involved in changing the government of Iran. And, we are told, this can be done without sending in troops on the ground. How does that work?

Sadly, the Trump administration is striking out again on its own. Where it will end? We don’t know. What we do know is that wars are easy to start but hard to end.

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident and a Vietnam veteran.