U.S. Studies Military Strike Options on Iran

[KrazyHorse]

You think Yanks would stand by and watch their boys and girls be chipped at from a neutral country?

Er...in this scenario they're already bombing the "neutral country"...

The question is how much further they would broaden the scope of their air attacks. I think there would be some retaliation on this front, but not unlimited.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Eh. We've already heard that Iran is strapping bombs to people's backs and sending them into Iraq (something I think is quite possibly true).

Where's the ridiculously disproportionate response to that?

It's not openly the military of Iran. Missiles would be.

That line is one to be very careful of. If the Yanks catch you dead to rights on direct military confrontation, your regime is worth less than the cost of buring the bodies.

[KrazyHorse]

?

This wouldn't be an unlimited or unprovoked direct military confrontation.

If the Iranians restrain themselves to shooting back at the places which are shooting at them then I'd think it likely that the US would restrain itself to shooting at their original targets plus the places which are shooting back.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse

You think Yanks would stand by and watch their boys and girls be chipped at from a neutral country?

Er...in this scenario they're already bombing the "neutral country"...

The question is how much further they would broaden the scope of their air attacks. I think there would be some retaliation on this front, but not unlimited.

They blew the **** out of Saddam and Iraq, and then they put sanctions on them and demanded he obey or get bombed.

You're thinking fair fight. Big mistake.

This ain't fair. The response to an Iranian missile launching in a direction that could viably be called westward would be... very unpleasant for anyone living on or near any military facilities in Iran.

[Drake Tungsten]

KH is right; US leaders aren't going to lose their cool over a few missiles. They're going to do the job (destroy the nuke program) as quickly as possible and then end things. A months long bombing campaign all over Iran would inflame Iranian public opinion even more than a strike against the nuclear program would. It isn't worth doing over a weak attack by Iran.

[KrazyHorse]

Now, if the US is secretly looking for an excuse to go to all-out war with Iran then that's one thing. But if they were truly interested in a limited engagement with the aim of knocking off as much nuke capability as possible then they would have to know in advance that the Iranians would not sit still and take it, and would be prepared to retaliate without breaking some unspoken limits.

[KrazyHorse]

You're thinking fair fight. Big mistake.

No, I'm not. I'm thinking that the bright boys in the Pentagon know what a limited engagement is, and are smart enough to tell the US administration ahead of time what sort of response to anticipate.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
?

This wouldn't be an unlimited or unprovoked direct military confrontation.

If the Iranians restrain themselves to shooting back at the places which are shooting at them then I'd think it likely that the US would restrain itself to shooting at their original targets plus the places which are shooting back.

The Yanks aren't interested in fair.

They shoot at Iran. if Iran shoots back at anything within 50 miles of American forces the Yanks shoot at anything that could concievably shoot at American forces.

The Iranians whimper, conventionally.

You don't ever win a hot war with the Yanks.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Now, if the US is secretly looking for an excuse to go to all-out war with Iran then that's one thing. But if they were truly interested in a limited engagement with the aim of knocking off as much nuke capability as possible then they would have to know in advance that the Iranians would not sit still and take it, and would be prepared to retaliate without breaking some unspoken limits.

The ruiles are pretty simple. You shoot at American forces, enjoy your time left on this Earth. They went through Cambodia already, and they didn't like it.

There is no 'unspoken limit'. Imagine a POTUS explaining on national television that 'we bombed them for good reason and now we have to suffer dead boys and girls because they owed us one.'

[KrazyHorse]

The Yanks aren't interested in fair.

You can keep arguing against this strawman, but I never said anything about fair. I said something about measured.

the Yanks shoot at anything that could concievably shoot at American forces

i.e. missile sites

Which is what I've been saying. Whereas what you were saying earlier is that they start shooting at every private-with-his-thumb-up-his-ass in the whole country.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by notyoueither


The ruiles are pretty simple. You shoot at American forces, enjoy your time left on this Earth. They went through Cambodia already, and they didn't like it.

?

What are you on about?

There is no 'unspoken limit'. Imagine a POTUS explaining on national television that 'we bombed them for good reason and now we have to suffer dead boys and girls because they owed us one.'

Why would I imagine that? What part of "unspoken" didn't you understand?

[KrazyHorse]

You're off on one of your flights of fancy here, NYE.

The Yanks can and do wage limited wars.

[Drake Tungsten]

I'm thinking that the bright boys in the Pentagon know what a limited engagement is, and are smart enough to tell the US administration ahead of time what sort of response to anticipate.

I think there's little question that the boys at the Pentagon are smart enough to plan for a limited strike on Iran's nuke program. The real question is whether this administration will actually listen to them...

[KrazyHorse]

Eh. I won't completely discount the possibility that Bush is such a nincompoop/wants so badly to bomb the **** out of Iran that he launches a strike against Iran's nuke facilities and that at the first sign of life from them he loses his cool/takes the opportunity to ratchet up the bombing from tactical to strategic.

But NYE's claim that this is some inherent feature of the American military psyche violates the last 60 years of historical facts...

[Ramo]

I think that some of the smarter boys at the Pentagon are going to resign if Bush decides on this course.