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Posted on 03/20/2026 10:15:49 PM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
...So just to be clear: I don't "fear" that it "might" end badly. Because, since VJ Day, what American war doesn't? The only difference this time is the potential scale of disaster. As I noted at the beginning of Wednesday's Clubland Q&A:
Population of Syria in 2011: 22 million;
Population of Libya in 2011: 6.3 million;
Population of Iraq in 2003: 26.8 million;
Population of Afghanistan in 2001: 20-25 million;
Population of Vietnam in 1965: 37 million;
Population of North Korea in 1950: 11 million.
Oh, and, for those weary of that grim roll-call, let's throw in:
Population of the Japanese Empire in 1940: 73 million;
Population of the Greater German Reich in 1940: 79 million.
As opposed to:
Population of Iran right now: 93 million
- spread over an area the size of western Europe; or, if you prefer, three times the size of Ukraine, or the combined size of Afghanistan and Iraq. I would be interested to hear from any American under the age of 107 on what basis they think the United States is remotely capable of pulling this off - even if we knew, from one day to the next, what "this" is meant to be. In the absence of any coherent war aims, the likeliest outcomes are:
1) a failed state sending tens of millions of its citizens across Turkey to Europe; or
2) an Iran with its power and prestige vastly increased.
So no, I won't be joining the eerily sotto voce rah-rah right. And, incidentally, in our present political culture, who seriously "stands behind" anybody? Remember the Fall of Kabul? Well, no, you probably don't, but it was in the papers for a couple of days. Were any of the commanders cashiered for that?
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
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“Mark Steyn on the latest Middle Eastern Conflict” ping.
Iran is one of the phoney-baloney partitionings after the Not-So-Great War aka WWI.
Thow people with justifiable generational hatred
together, surround them with an artificial border, give them a flag, and expect them to sing “Kum-by-yah”.
Color me cyan cynical.
Wow an interesting post I half expected something else but looks like he’s skeptical
Mark has gotten quite cynical in his years.
As much as I want total victory, Mark should be listened to. He has great credibility imho...I think most conservatives will agree. It’s a big country. Let’s hope the Persians can rise up. Thank God Israel is there doing a lot of the work.
That said, this time around , the Trump Team is getting things right for a change.
We will soon see a complete destruction of the Islamic State , a defection of the Iranian regular army to support a new western and a US friendly government probably headed initially by the Shah's son.
Perhaps as soon as Easter.
There will no doubt be some fighting with the remnants of the IRGC and Basij but the Iranian expats who fled the fall of the Shah control several trillion dollars of wealth and if they return , the economic boom they create to modernize and rebuild Iran after 60 years of Islamic oppression will be amazing. to see.
The only thing worse than war with Iran would have been to continue kicking the can down the road until Iran was orders of magnitude worse of a threat. And whether or not we choose to ignore it, Iran has been at war with the U.S. since the Islamic regime was as installed by Jimmy Carter.
steyn is disappointing. the US has been at war with iran for a long time… we have just become active . the war is technically over and the cleanup is beginning.
Stopped reading Steyn about 6 yrs ago (maybe more) and now I’m sure I made the right decision.
More negative shit.
Marking.
If their banking capabilities are frozen, it’s not counter-productive. If the oil can keep prices down, but the regime can’t access the cash, that would be okay.
Just another foreigner (he’s Canadian) trying to meddle in things they do not understand and are cowardly in their actions.
That pretty much says it all.
The one thing I can say with confidence is that this President isn’t retarded enough to don a flight suit for a “Mission Accomplished” propaganda event on an aircraft carrier.
Several major heart attacks (most recent a few days ago) and facing death does that to a soul.
“...an Iran with its power and prestige vastly increased.”
In what universe is that possible?
“to lift sanctions on Iranian oil”
The thugs of Iran have greater concerns than bank account balances - their wills, funeral arrangements, burial plots.
“In the absence of any coherent war aims”
In life you do what you can when you can.
I went to college hoping to get into the medical device business.
I got jobs in the telecommunications business after college.
Trump has stopped Iran from becoming a major nuclear power.
Iran still has enough U-235 to make a few bombs. It would be a shame if DC was to be hit with one.
How’s the SAVE Act coming along?
Any real desire of the Supreme Court to reign in rogue judges?
Florida is nice and war.
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