[dfwgator]

You hit on something here. For years I believed we supported Saddam out of fear of Iran. Saddam was the "devil we knew," who kept the more serious threat of the Iranians at bay. Now I suspect that Iran seemingly is on the verge of overthrowing the Mullahs, that Iran no longer is the threat, and thus, we could go ahead and remove Saddam without fear of Iran taking advantage of it.

[Alberta's Child]

You are much more optimistic than I am. Recent U.S. history tells me that the more likely scenario is that we don't have a clue about what we are doing in the long term.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Bingo - there have been significant uprisings there the past 12 months. Further, you have to consider the likelihood that the original overthrow of the Shah was sponsored by the old KGB in an act of excellent tradecraft, and the RVS isn't particularly concerned about that anymore.

[FBD]

Right on FRiend. Iranians want freedom too.

Iranians may well overthrow their government after this conflict with Iraq is over.

[goldstategop]

Exactly. The Shias in Iraq can inspire their religious brethen in Iran to overthrow the mullahs and move towards a more representative form of government. Things like this snowball and take on a life of their own.