I think you are overestimating the capabilities of the Iranian forces and also overlooking the massive airpower of the US, much of which has not been used in Iraq. That airpower can be used to take out most of the Iranian armed forces, missile sites, communications and even industrial infrastructure. If it also happens to kill tens of thousands of Iranians, do you think the American people care? Well, you and I and a few others might, but by and large, Americans do not. That is the sad truth.
You also think that the US government is concerned about how stressed its troops are -- they are not concerned. As long as they can keep the casualty rate to about two a day (which the American public seems to be comfortable with) they don't care a fig about our soldiers dying needlessly there.
Some think that the prospects for increased instability in Iraq might deter the US, but it does not. Instability in the region is the perfect excuse for staying there and building massive military bases. As long as the Iraqi government is weak and indecisive and depends on the US forces for its very survival, the US government doesn't care if ordinary Iraqis are getting killed or maimed or tortured or if there is a civil war.
I think Iran will get rolled over so fast that for many anti-war folks, it will come as a shock, a kind of Iraq II, if you will. If Iran stays in the fight for more than a couple of weeks, I will be surprised. However, just like in Iraq, the real problems will begin only after "Mission Accomplished II". It remains to be seen at what point the vast majority of the Americans will say "Enough is enough" and it also remains to be seen how far the government will go in suppressing dissent at that time. |
