The Clock Behind the Warships (opens in new tab)

A US armada can surge into the Middle East, it can loom, posture, and signal resolve, but it cannot just sit there indefinitely without the costs starting to outweigh the leverage. Carrier strike groups burn through readiness cycles, crews hit fatigue limits, maintenance windows get missed, and the opportunity cost elsewhere in the world starts to bite. At some point, presence stops being pressure and turns into drift. Everyone involved, especially Tehran, knows this, and that knowledge turns...