[Kuruharan]

Numerous military commanders throughout history have been able to march their troops to war, and maintain immense supply lines.

A supply line of 600 miles through desolate landscape to an equally desolate battlefield…hmmm…can’t think of any example like that off the top of my head during a comparable period of our history.

Time is something the Wiki had, and the Gondorians did not.

They had two years. That is enough time to do plenty of things.

And the Gondorians just cannot be lacking in knowledge of the situation? They were not exactly expecting something out of the desolation. You seem to expect a lot of things out of Gondor. They cannot have an off moment?

They can have an off moment. Two years is a bit too much to swallow. King Earnil was no idiot.

Perhaps you think too highly of their abilities...

Perhaps you think too little of them…

Why don't you try expanding your argument?

Fair enough. I’ll give you a step-by-step account of what I think is a reasonable chronology of how things went down.

I think that when the Nazgûl launched their assault against Minas Morgul they did so by moving into the area unclad for the express purpose of causing terror and driving people away.

Note what Tolkien said…

[T]heir chief weapon was terror. This was actually greater when they were unclad and invisible; and it was also greater when they were gathered together.
-The Hunt for the Ring text B

-and-

They passed slowly and in stealth, through Anórien, and over the Entwade, and so into the Wold, and rumor of darkness and a dread of men knew not what went before them.
-The Hunt for the Ring text A

-and-

They rode through Rohan in haste, and the terror of their passing was so great that many folk fled from the land, and went wildly away north and west
-The Hunt for the Ring text A

Is it really so very hard to believe that the prolonged presence of the Nazgûl could cause the inhabitants of Minas Ithil to start going out of their minds and fleeing in droves? The king wouldn’t know what to do because the city was not under attack, its people were just collectively going insane. After a fairly short time of this exposure, I think the more faint-hearted residents would start heading west. Given more time and the stout-hearted would start to have the urge as well. Eventually, I think that the only people in Minas Morgul would be the garrison soldiers. They too would have experienced their share of desertions, but we’ll give them some credit for bravery or a devotion to duty that was greater than their fear. The king still wouldn’t understand what was happening because nothing intelligible was happening. Undoubtedly he would send reinforcements, but they would suffer just like the rest of the troops. After two years of this process, I imagine that the garrison would be in utter shambles and reduced in strength. The Nazgûl would then summon up a strike force sufficient to storm the (probably ill-manned) walls one night, or they would induce some terror-stricken individual to open the gates for them…and PRESTO!! City fallen.

I also think that this manner of conquest could go a long way toward explaining the unique properties of Minas Morgul. The rest of Mordor was not like that (although we admittedly don’t know what Barad-dûr was like, but Shagrat and Gorbag talk about serving in the city as if it is a unique experience). I think this haunting manner of conquest could explain a lot about why the city turned out the way it did.

Perhaps the tower's commander was not authorized to use the palantir? Such an awesome tool could not be left idly in the hands of a lesser

Even if the city were under heavy siege and in danger of falling? I doubt that.

It would seem that if Gondor got bogged down at Ithil, it would become even more likely that the Wiki might to go around Ithil and attack Osgiliath, if only to draw off the Gondorians at Ithil.

How? His passage was blocked.