Quote:
Originally Posted by ute4ever
It is not a shock or breaking news to anyone that Iran is helping the insurgents in Iraq. We should stay in Iraq and keep Iran surrounded. However, IF we stay in Iraq (which the outlook is not so hot right now) we should be sure to let our military fight to win. That means using air power which, while successful at achieving victory, will be costly in the end towards civilian lives.
Also: we should deal with Iran in a very clear, concise manner. No more summits or multi-party talks. In fact, no talks until their leadership takes a very different course. Also, the US should prepare to deal with Iran in a Clausewitz manner: remember war is a continuation of politics by other means.
Finally, we in the US need to prepare for what could be one of the darkest days in history. It is very negative, but we should prepare to pay whatever costs (that is economically, politically, or even militarily) to win this global conflict. However, the American public is not ready or willing to bear that burden.
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What are your proposals for carrots and sticks in dealing with Iran if we disengage diplomatically? Why would they care if we are not talking? I don't see much leverage that we have to encourage them to do things we want. That was one of the main drawbacks in going to Iraq IMO because the Iranians know that we are preoccupied with Iraq and that we are to bogged down to quickly respond to anything that they do.
As for invasion. Ai yi yi! Our poor military is beat down and overwhelmed with deployments and Iraq has only a third of the population of Iran, and much easier terrain. We could take out the regime obviously, but holding the place together and restoring something better would be at least 3 times as hard as Iraq.