Many of those over 40 initially supported the overthrow of the Shah. I think we may have a case of buyer's remorse now. I wonder if the younger Iranian generation is asking the older generation: "How is $#@#*##!% could you have been so STUPID?"
And it might just happen without a single US Soldier on the ground. With US soldiers to the left and right of Iran, that alone may give those that want freedom enough of a catalyst to do something about it.
Mae West purportedly went to a county fair, and for a photo-op, agreed to milk a cow. Her fingernails were a little long, so the cow soon became uninfatuated with her attention and kicked her in the head. She fell, momentarily unconscious.
When she woke up, she was laying under the cows udder, four big teats staring down at her.
"One at a time, boys," she said.
Well, to Iran, Syria, and a few more middle eastern unsats--the message may well be: "one at a time, boys; don't be impatient."
Also, there's the vaudeville story about the old bull and the young bull looking down together from a ridge at a herd of cows. The young bull says "C'mon, let's run on down and screw them all." The old bull replies, "no, let's just walk on down and screw them one at a time."
Iraq may not have been a total masterpiece of power projection, but it was actually rather good. Certainly good enough to give the rest of the islamist herd pause to wonder who might be next.