Originally Posted by bulldogg

I feel ya but I hope you're wrong on the last count.

As for the Soviet Union they imploded from a bankrupt economy propping up a morally bankrupt political system. Very different ballgame with a small oil rich country run by religious fanatics. The level of dedication of those who do support the current regime will not be shaken by blue jeans and rock n roll. They're in this game for heaven and 70 virgins and we've got nothing on offer to top it. Religion gone bad is dangerous in that the ties that bind one to a belief defy logic.

What 99.9% of people including very exterme muslims do not know is that it is not 70 virgins but 70 jail bubbas. And I don't think they are gonna like that once they given their lives for martyrdom.

Originally Posted by Easy-8

What 99.9% of people including very exterme muslims do not know is that it is not 70 virgins but 70 jail bubbas. And I don't think they are gonna like that once they given their lives for martyrdom.

Hehe right on

Another reasonable thought is this..If paradise lasts forever, then your 72 virgins will have become old news pretty fast.
What are you supposed to do next?

On a more personal note. 72?!? I have my hands full with one woman at a time...

Originally Posted by Easy-8

I say we launch artillery barrages, Air strikes and good ol' fashion carpet bombing campiagns on Iran. Blow them straight to hell, burn every building of every city to the ground. send Bomber Wing after Bomber Wing into the skies of Iran make city in Iran into a glow in the dark replica of 1945 Dresden, bomb Iran to the point it earns its place in the genius book of world records as the largest fireworks display known to man and then bomb some more... Bomb it until the Iranians cry for mercy and do it so loud that it it will eco across the ends of the earth for a 1000 years.

you're joking, right?

America is powerful, but in war the biggest mistake you can do is to underestimate the power and tenacity of your enemy and overestimate your own's. America can do a bombing strike on Iran we all know that; but Iran is no Iraq, they have a modern military force, huge population to draw from, its own Arms industry, large naval presence in Persian Gulf, large missile force, highly motivated military; therefore, bomobing Iran though possible is no small feat.

America has strong military that is highly trained but with its troops tide down in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some of its Carrier battle groups except for 2 all tide also in the Pacific againt the North Korean threat, most of its allies have had no stomach to support America in Iraq let alone Iran even their staunchest ally the British now sayin they will not participate in a war against Iran and the the stepping down of the Blair government, America is no shape or form in a position to wage a successful campaign against Iran in the near future unless their is huge commitment from NATO which is highly unlikely. The price of gas will sky rocket, the Persian Gulf will be closed and you will see nothing but a fire fight their.

Iran has tremendous influence in Iraq, we are currently fighting a mostly Sunni led insurgency that proved to be devastating but the Iranian will make sure their is a wide spread Shiite insurgency so that the Americans will be more tide down in Iraq. They will also have Hezbollah stir up fight in the Israeli-Lebanese border and before we know it this thing is going to spiral out of control throughout the middle east and you better believe that this time around we will have even less allies then the first time around when we invaded Iraq.

Invading Iran or even bombing it is no easy task today but it is do-able but the consequences it will have will far out weigh the gains will make. So at the end of the day it is not the smartest thing or most logical thing to stir trouble with Iran.

I predict the conventional war against Iran would be a short one ie: airwar to dispose of the larger part of Irans capacity to fight a war...If you decide to occupy..Another story alltogether.

Push the Iranian regime just a bit and people will rise to overthrow it

Originally Posted by fingolfin361

you're joking, right?

No I am not.

Originally Posted by phoenix80

Push the Iranian regime just a bit and people will rise to overthrow it

What of the tens of thousands that gather in the cities, to hear propagandic anti western speeches, and American Flag burnings?

Like my statement in the my last post I state; America has tremendous power and nobody discounts that everyone knows but sometimes even the strongest power has limits, Their is no way America at the present stage being tide down in Iraq and Afghanistan and guarding against North Korea can at the sametime wage a fullfledged war against Iran for the purpose of heavly decapitating it. In history one of the crucial mistakes superpowers have made time and time over is fighting at too many fronts simultenously were it always ends horribly for that power.

Lets look at the Iranian case and the different scenarios that can take place:
Firstly, an airwar in which case it just won't end that easly cuz Iran will retailate against our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and stir Shiite uprising in Iraq to compliment the already fullfledge Sunni rebellion. Hezbollah will strike Israel on Iran's order, the price of oil will sky rocket, the Persian Gulf will become a battle ground, and our allies will not back us; thus, we will entangle ourselves in more mess than we can handle and things will be worse then they are now.

Secondly, we can't apply the North Korean and Iraq example of strangling Iran of economically to the point the ppl and the regime we'll be weakend, this is because Iran has more allies in the world than Iraq under Saddam and North Korea do, Iran is also self sufficient in most areas and has had Russia, China, India, and South Africa amongst many others invest in Iran thus making it that much harder to have those countries come aboard in strangling of Iran economically in any meaningful way.

Thirdly, Iran has build up their armed forces heavily and created a large navy for the sole purpose of wreaking havoc in the Persian Gulf. They built up their arms industry with their own technology and technology they purchased from abroad so they dont rely soley on arms import which can be hard to get in times of war.

Fourth, Iran has hidden and dispersed their military industry making it hard to detect. And their population is highly motivated and have showen time and time again rise up to defend their country in time of invasions. Their land mass is 3 times the size of Iraq and and their population is 2.5 times that of Iraq thus making it that much difficult to wage full war against them while we are tide down in other places. The Iranian population doesn't have dictators like some of our allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia they have the closest thing to democracy in the middle east other than Israel. Thus making it that hard to have the ppl rise up.

So the best thing at this moment in the case of Iran is diplomacy. We need to be careful in the actions we take so we don't involve ourselves in a quagmire that will be hard to get out of and thats gona suck men and material from the America military that are need in other places.