Quote:
Originally Posted by peter12
The US may be overstretched to the degree that it cannot engage in a comprehensive land campaign of Iran, but it certainly has the capability to make things tough for Iran.
Carrier groups have planes and planes have bombs.
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True enough. But "make things tough" is a different proposition than invading and establishing command and control--which is probably what it would take to get Iran to abandon their nuclear ambitions. Let's not forget that Ahmadinejad (sp?!) is probably crazy--and not that well liked in Iran anyway. A war with the U.S., especially a relatively powerless U.S., might be just the tonic he needs to rally the people behind him.
Also, it's a mountainous region, far larger than Iraq, and far more militarily powerful, with more money, more stability as a regime, etc. etc. There's a reason they're rattling their sabres right now. I don't think Iran is very afraid of the U.S. at the moment--which may be the gravest miscalculation Bush has made--overestimating the ability of the U.S. to use their military might to influence the actions of others.