I've read a few analyses on a possible war with Iran and almost everyone who looks closely at the issue concludes that it would be suicidal to invade Iran. Too many mountains, too many nooks and crannies to sweep, and the majority of Iranians lives in the densly populated northern reigion around Tehran, so any fight there is sure to cause massive amounts of collateral damage. Even arial bombardment is risky, and cruise missile attacks, while marginally safer for the population, would not do enough damage. The military option in Iran is very undesirable, and nobody knows this better than the president and his staff. Believe me, Bush doesn't want war with Iran and he won't be pushing for it any time soon.
Besides, if we ever looked like we were trying to take over the population of Iran we'd be legitimizing their claims that America want's to destroy Islam. That wouldn't accomplish anything. No, the only way to win is to get Iran to voluntarily give up on its nuclear weapons program through diplomacy. And even though military force won't be needed, an American military presence along the Iran-Iraq border would definitly help our position at the table. Perhaps invading Iraq was the only way the international community was ever going to get Iran to heed its demands.
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