I’ve always thought Bush would neuter Iran before he leaves office as part of post 9/11 speech when he said, paraphrased, “this will be a long, drawn out war lasting years”.
If it were my call to make we’d go in late March. Cool weather for the troops and the harshest part of the US winter behind us when home heating oil prices hit $4+/gallon.
Of course I thought this would have happened in 2007 so, what do I know?
Iran cannot be invaded or bombed, because many experts point out that the typical Iranian hates their government, but will rally to it if their homeland is attacked. The US should help the opposition to overthrow the Islamic regime. Syria can be destroyed, because like Iraq it is a multi ethnic nation where the minority Alawites control power and oppress the majority population of Shiites, Kurds, and Druzes. The US has the backing of 40 percent of Lebanon who wants to rid their nation of Syrian occupation and control. The local ethnic terrain and ethnic support makes war against Syria plausible while Iran it is not. Make no mistake, our presence in Iraq will provide us with a foward base next to Iran, Syria and the two faced Saudi Arabia. Makes it easier to project air and ground power without the reliance on limited capabilities of aircraft carriers. The US will not give up this geographical location and strategic advantage.