New Delhi, April 1 -- LAND WARS in Asia have rarely gone well for America. In Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, America spent years on the ground, ensnared in conflicts for much longer than first expected. Now President Donald Trump is threatening to repeat the experience. Short of options to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, he has sent thousands of troops to the region and talked of invading Kharg Island, in the Gulf off Iran's coast.

Kharg is appealing. It is a hub for 90% of Iran's oil exports. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan weighed attacking it; Saddam Hussein and Mr Trump bombed it. If America held the island, it would hope to deny Iran much of the 2.4m to 2.8m barrels of oil that it still exports daily. Iran earns more from those exports ...